Japanese manufacture of electrical porcelain

JAPANESE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRICAL PORCELAIN.

One of the newer developments in the pottery industry is the manufacture of electrical accessories in connection with the rapidly expanding electrical industry in Japan. The large high-tension insulators demanded by hydroelectric development are made both in large factories such as the great Morimura plant at Nagoya and also by small individual workshops (on subcontracts) in villages.

The large pole insulators are thrown on an ordinary wheel which usually is motor-driven. When shaped they are passed to a second man who turns them to size with a tool. Finally they are carefully finished by hand before drying. They are glazed in the clay and fired once. One man carrying through all the processes will throw, turn and finish 400 insulators in a day, for which he gets about 1.70 yen (including a rice stipend).

Smaller white porcelain goods, insulators, cleats, rosettes, etc., are for the most part manufactured in Japan in the households alongside of dolls and teapots. They are molded in plaster of Paris molds, with a lavish expenditure of time and energy, from clay purchased ready for working, and are then fired in community kilns. With practically no overhead charges, such small manufacturers are able to compete successfully with modern factories. In fact, one large establishment which put in an insulator factory has been undercut in price by the small independent potters to such an extent that it has almost ceased to do business.