On his return, he made such important improvements in the composition and decoration of porcelain that henceforth it became superior in many instances to the Chinese, especially in the manufacture of the best specimens, upon which much time and labour were bestowed. The porcelain of Japan is very much like that of China, but the colours are more brilliant on the fine pieces; it has a better finish, and the designs are more of the European character, the flowers, birds, &c., being more natural, and the ky-lins, dragons, and other monsters less hideous; the paste is of better quality and a purer white, especially in ware of the 17th and 18th centuries. [Illustration: FIG. 336.--SAKÉ CUP AND STAND. _Porcelain gold ornament on red ground._] [Illustration: FIG. 337.--STONEWARE JAR. _Ôto ware._] [Illustration: FIG. 338.--PORCELAIN VASE. _Kishin ware._] [Illustration: FIG. 339.--CANDLESTICK. _Tozan porcelain. Painted in blue._] Perhaps the most beautiful of all the porcelain made in Japan is the _egg shell_, so called because it is extremely thin and translucent, yet so compact that it can be formed into large vases, as well as plates and bowls or cups. The small cups without saucers, which are usually placed upon _présentoirs_ of lac, are seldom painted on the exterior; but within is frequently found a fillet of gold, and slight sketches in blue or gold indicating the outline of a mountain, the sun, clouds, and a line of birds taking flight, or sometimes animals, all in outline. On other pieces are birds, flowers, and animals delicately painted in colours. [Illustration: FIG. 340.--FLASK. _Satsuma ware._] The art has been continued to the present day; those beautiful and extremely delicate cups and saucers, thin as paper, are frequently seen covered on the outside with a casing of bamboo threads woven together; the larger basins and covers are also made of equally thin porcelain. All these are produced now, as they were in ancient times, at Imari, in the province of Hizen. It is not in the village itself that these manufactories are established, but as many as twenty-four or twenty-five are situated near the mountain of _Idsumi-yama_, whence the kaolin is obtained of which the vessels are made. Crackle china was made in Japan as well as in China from a very early period, and was frequently painted with flowers, landscapes, and birds. [Illustration: FIG. 341.--INCENSE-BURNER. _Imari porcelain. 18th century._] According to the late Sir Augustus W. Franks, K.C.B., "the ceramic wares of Japan exhibit great differences in their composition, texture, and appearance, but may be roughly classed under three principal heads: (1) common pottery and stoneware, generally ornamented simply by scoring and glazing the surface; (2) a cream-coloured _faïence_, with a glaze, often crackled and delicately painted in colours; (3) hard porcelain.