In the 1590s the shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi waged the Bunroku and Keicho invasions of Korea; when troops were withdrawn from Korea each of the daimyos brought back numerous Korean potters with them to Japan. Among these Korean potters was a man named Yi Sam Pyeong; he was responsible for the discovery of minerals suitable for porcelain creation (kaolin) on Mt. Izumiyama in Saga Prefecture’s Arita region. In 1616 he began production of porcelain in Arita’s eastern area of Tengudanigama and not long after that the production of porcelain spread all throughout Japan.