Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair 2026 | Choosing by the Crazing
The Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair runs from Saturday 10 to Monday 12 October 2026, in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Hours are 10:00 to 17:00.
There are two sites. The Tamachi shopping arcade, and Hagi Meirin Gakusha. Both hold a full Hagi ware sale.
What is written here comes from the Hagi Chamber of Commerce and the Hagi Tourism Association. It reflects what had been published as of 2026. Please check the official site before you travel.
Dates for the 2026 Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10 (Sat) - 12 (Mon, holiday) October 2026 / three days |
| Hours | 10:00-17:00 |
| Sites | Tamachi shopping arcade, Hagi Meirin Gakusha |
| Organisers | Hagi Chamber of Commerce, Hagi Tamachi Shopping Street Federation |
12 October is Sports Day. The whole three-day weekend is the fair, so you can pick your day.
How it differs from the spring fair
Hagi holds two pottery fairs a year. The Hagi Pottery Fair over Golden Week, and the autumn Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair.
In spring, the whole town becomes the venue. You visit the kilns and shops scattered across the city one by one, and on top of that, special sites are set up at Hagi Shimin Kaikan and Hagi Meirin Gakusha in the centre of town. 2026 is the 33rd edition.
| Item | Spring: Hagi Pottery Fair | Autumn: Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair |
|---|---|---|
| Season | Golden Week | The October three-day weekend |
| Sites | The whole town, plus two special sites (Hagi Shimin Kaikan, Hagi Meirin Gakusha) | Tamachi shopping arcade, Hagi Meirin Gakusha |
| How you move | Round the kilns spread across the city | Gathered into two sites |
| Time needed | A full day or more. Easier with a car | Half a day covers it |
| Suits you if | You want to see as many kilns as possible | You want to choose in a short time |
The spring town-wide format wins outright on the number of kilns, but the moving takes time. Autumn is concentrated into two sites, so you can finish it on the day you arrive in Hagi.
Walking the two sites
The Tamachi shopping street is an arcade. You walk under a roof, so rain is not a problem. Weather in the San'in region turns quickly in October, so this matters in practice. The shops of the arcade are open as usual, so there is no trouble finding food or anything else.
The other site, Hagi Meirin Gakusha, is the wooden former Meirin Elementary School, standing on the site of the Meirinkan domain academy. The main hall, topped with shibi ridge ornaments, is a registered tangible cultural property, and now houses a tourist information centre and a World Heritage visitor centre.
Choosing Hagi ware on the grounds of a domain academy is a particular kind of experience. Hagi ware began as the domain's official kiln, so the place and the history of the ware overlap.
Getting there
| How | Route |
|---|---|
| Train | JR San'in Line, Higashi-Hagi station. On foot or by bus from there |
| By air | By car from Hagi-Iwami or Yamaguchi Ube airport |
| By car | Chugoku Expressway to Mine-Higashi JCT, then the Ogori-Hagi road |
Hagi is not an easy town to reach. Trains on the San'in Line are infrequent, and the expressway only takes you part of the way. Once you decide to go, the going is itself the itinerary.
Which is to say: having made the trip, it is worth staying a night for the castle town, the autumn colour and the sea.
Parking and road closures
The Tamachi shopping street sits in central Hagi. There is no single large car park concentrated nearby, so you will be using the car parks around the town centre. Hagi Meirin Gakusha has parking. If you are moving between the two sites by car, leaving it at Meirin Gakusha and walking to the arcade is the realistic option.
Where the car parks are changes from year to year. Check the Hagi Chamber of Commerce notice close to the date.
About Hagi ware
Hagi ware is chosen on a different basis from other regions. You are choosing not for how finished it is, but for how it is going to change.
Hagi clay is coarse, and the fired body keeps fine gaps in it. Glaze it, and as it cools the difference in shrinkage between glaze and clay opens fine cracks. That is crazing.
As you use it, tea and sake seep in through the crazing and the colour shifts, little by little. This is what is called the seven changes of Hagi. It is not at its best the day you buy it; the surface grows as you use it.
So when you choose Hagi ware, look at how the crazing runs. Fine and dense, or wide and sparse - the two change differently from here on.
One more thing: some Hagi pieces have a notch cut into the foot ring. It is called kiri-kodai, and while accounts differ, the story that it separated ware submitted to the domain from ware the potters used themselves is the one that is known. The foot ring is the underside of a piece, but in Hagi it is one of the things to look at.
How the region came about is covered in Hagi ware, and the comparison with Bizen in Bizen and Hagi.
How to work the fair
- 1. Ask the concierge at either site They will tell you which shop has what. With two sites, deciding your approach here first saves time
- 2. Walk the arcade end to end once You cannot get lost under an arcade. Get a sense of the quantity and the price range
- 3. Hold the crazing up to the light This is where Hagi ware is chosen. Being under a roof means the light is consistent, which is an advantage of the arcade
- 4. Pick it up and feel the weight Hagi clay finishes light. Feeling that lightness in the hand as you choose is what a pottery fair is for.
- 5. Go on to Meirin Gakusha and the castle town The school building itself is worth seeing. And do take in the castle town and the old streets of Hagi before you head home.
Once you have bought Hagi ware, season it before first use. Liquid seeps in through the crazing, so simmering it once in the water left from rinsing rice makes it pick up odour and staining far less. Ask at the shop and they will talk you through it.
What to bring
- Cash Kiln stalls are sometimes cash only
- Newspaper or a towel Wrapping can be minimal
- Shoes you can walk in You will walk the two sites and the castle town in one go
- Something to layer Mid-October in San'in. The sea is close and some days the wind is cold
- A folding umbrella The arcade is covered, but it can rain on the way to Meirin Gakusha, so it is worth having.
Related reading
Learn about Hagi
- Hagi Ware: The Tea Bowl That Changes Colour as You Use It
- Crazing (Kannyu): Cracks in Glaze That Aren't Damage
- Bizen vs Hagi: Two Opposite Ideas of Wabi-Sabi
Ware that grows
- Pottery That 'Grows': How Ceramics Change With Use
- Medome: How to Seal Unglazed Pottery Before First Use
- Kodai (Foot Ring): The Part Collectors Check First
Before you go to a pottery fair
- Pottery Fair Calendar
- How to Visit a Japanese Pottery Fair: 9 Regions Compared
- Pottery Classes in Japan: Where to Try the Wheel
- How to Care for Japanese Ceramics: A Practical Guide
For the days you cannot go
The fair is only three days a year. Even if you cannot make those days, we send pieces made one at a time by hand, direct from where they were made. Every piece carries its maker's name, so you can trace who made it.
See work by our makersFAQ
When is the Hagi Tamachi Pottery Fair held?
What should I look at when choosing Hagi ware?
How does the spring Hagi Pottery Fair differ from the autumn one?
Shop the related pieces
New to Japanese pottery? Start here — its history, how pottery differs from porcelain, the clays and glazes behind each style, and how to care for a piece. → Japanese Pottery: The Complete Guide