Sanjo Industry

 　It is believed that the birth place of marking ink pots is ancient Egypt, but the configuration of Egyptian marking ink pots are slightly different from what marking inks pots are considered to be in Japan. In ancient Egypt, string was simply placed into an ink pot and strung out to make its mark, which slightly differs from what we see now in Japan. This process of ink marking somehow reached the orient, refined in China and was then introduced to Japan. And the current model we see now is considered to be very similar to the marking ink pot which was originally introduced to Japan. Japan's most ancient marking ink pot is preserved at the Shosoin in Nara prefecture and the design has not much changed.

  There are tales in Sanjo of how the very first Sanjo marking ink pot was commissioned by Kuriyama, and made by Saito Yokichi. Following the first production of the marking ink pot, three schools of marking ink pot manufacturing methods were formed (Kuriyama, Kuribayashi & Takenouchi). As steady employment at the time was scarce, it is said that many begain making marking ink pots as another form of employment.

 　From 1975 onwards, the Kuribayashi method has unfortunately disappeared, but the Kuriyama and Takenouchi methods still remain. In the past, angled and round marking ink pots were popular, and after the second world war, leaf shaped marking ink became the norm, and following that trend, turtle and crane shaped marking ink pots were introduced to Sanjo from Tokyo. From this period the early 60s, marking ink pots began to be manufactured in the masses.

 　In the past, the wheels which are an integral part of the marking ink pot, were decorated as Japanese plum flowers "Ume" by drilling 5 holes into the wheel. Other wheels such as the Genshi wheels were shaped by forming 6-8 bones as the spokes of the wheel. With the introduction of machinery, compared to the days of complete hand carving, numerous marking ink pots can now be manufactured in a single day.