Kaengata doki

What kaengata doki means

Kaengata doki, flame-style pottery, are deep pots made in the Middle Jōmon period, about 5,000 years ago, mainly along the Shinano River in Niigata Prefecture. Four large projections rise from the rim like leaping flames, and the body is covered with swirls and S-shaped motifs formed by applied clay ridges. The name comes from the fiery look of the whole vessel.

In the same area and period potters also made crown-style pots, ōkangata doki, whose rims bear rows of strip-like projections. A Sanjo City guide treats the two together as the Middle Jōmon flame-pottery style and names parts such as the cockscomb projections, bag-shaped projections and saw-toothed frills. They are also said to have been used for cooking.

The Umataka site in Nagaoka, Niigata, is where the pot known as the Kaen doki was found, and the Umataka Jōmon Museum there is nicknamed the flame-pottery museum.

Reading the records and the object

The deep pots excavated at the Sasayama site in Tokamachi, Niigata, are a National Treasure. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the designation as 57 deep pots, centred on flame-style vessels found together in a group of twenty, with contemporary pottery, clay objects, stone tools and lumps of red ochre designated as supplements. The record uses a slightly different character for style, while the more common spelling uses the one for type.

Articles should distinguish flame-style from crown-style pots and note that the National Treasure is designated under the name deep pots. In a museum, compare the rim projections: four large cockscomb-like projections mark flame style; rows of strip-like projections mark crown style.