Hasami Pottery Festival 2027 | Usually April 29 to May 5: Parking, Shuttle Buses and Avoiding the Crowds

The Hasami Pottery Festival is usually held for seven days over Golden Week, from April 29 to May 5, at Yakimono Park in Hasami, Nagasaki Prefecture. Hours are 9am to 5pm. The 2026 festival was the 68th.

About 150 Hasami ware kilns, trading companies and other shops line the park's plaza for this spring fair. It drew about 260,000 visitors in both 2025 and 2026. Much of the venue is under large tents, so you can shop even on rainy days.

And over the same seven days, the Arita Pottery Fair is held in the neighboring town. Shuttle buses run between the Arita Station area and the venue, taking about 15 minutes. Spring in the Hizen region is the season when you can visit both pottery towns in one trip.

Hasami Pottery Festival 2027 dates and opening time

If the usual dates hold, the 2027 festival will run from Thursday, April 29 (holiday) to Wednesday, May 5 (holiday). In that calendar, April 30 (Friday) is the only weekday. If you want a less crowded day, that is your best choice.

The venue opens at 9am. The parking lots, however, opened earlier in 2026: the largest, the special large lot, from 8am on the first day, and most of the others from 8am or 8:30am. Arriving before opening, parking, and walking in at 9am is the surest way to do this fair.

Not the same as the autumn Nakaoyama Shuto Meguri

Hasami has two pottery fairs, one in spring and one in autumn. The spring Pottery Festival is held at Yakimono Park in the center of town. The autumn Nakaoyama Shuto Meguri is a walk around the hillside village of Nakaoyama, where the kilns are clustered, and it differs in both place and scale.

In your car navigation or map app, search for "Yakimono Park". The autumn dates and how to get around are in our article on the Nakaoyama autumn pottery festival.

Getting to the Hasami Pottery Festival

There is no railway in Hasami. If you are coming by train, go to JR Arita Station on the Saga side, then take the shuttle bus or a taxi.

The travel times from the interchanges and the station are the Hasami Tourism Association's estimates for normal traffic. During the festival, and especially on busy days, the roads around the venue take much longer than this.

During the festival, the town's rental bicycles, sightseeing taxis and shared taxis all stop running (2026). If you want a taxi, call a local company directly: Sogo Taxi (0956-85-6161) or Mayumi Taxi (0956-85-4444).

The shuttle bus from Arita Station

This is the organizer's shuttle bus for visitors coming by train. It does not leave from in front of Arita Station but from the "Arita bus stop" (in front of Kishikawa Enogu-ten), about a 10-minute walk from the station. At the venue end, the stop is in the bus parking lot beside Yakimono Park.

Wristbands are sold at the Arita and Hasami bus stops, and the color changes every day. Because you can ride as many times as you like in a day, it is especially useful on days when you go back and forth between Arita and Hasami. In 2026, 6,189 people used it, 1.5 times as many as the year before.

One thing to note: this shuttle does not go to the Ureshino Bus Center. If you are staying in Ureshino, use the Saihi Bus local service. In 2026, buses to the Ureshino Bus Center left the bus parking lot near the venue at 17:40 and 18:30. There is also no bus to the second venue outside the town (near the Hasami-Arita interchange).

Hasami Pottery Festival parking

In 2026, eight public parking lots with a total of more than 2,600 spaces were provided. Parking cost 1,000 yen (tax included) per entry at every lot. If you leave and park again, you pay again.

The largest lot, (1) the special large lot, does not take cash and accepts cashless payment only. The official website suggests installing the Times Club app in advance so you can leave without queuing at the payment machine. Lots (2) to (8), on the other hand, accept cash only. Bring both so that you are covered wherever you park.

(1) The special large lot closes at 5:30pm. You need to take your car out before then, so watch the time on days when you stay until the venue closes. You can check how full each lot is on the day on the crowd map posted on the official website.

Hasami Pottery Festival crowds and traffic

According to the organizer, the busiest days are the first day, April 29, and May 3, and the busiest time is the morning.

• 2025　On April 29, May 3 and May 4, the parking lots near the venue were full from early morning and the surrounding roads were jammed. The organizer reported that the shuttle buses were also caught in the traffic and did not run smoothly.
• 2026　May 3 brought heavy rain and strong wind, so crowds gathered on the days before and after, May 2 and 4. On the evening of May 4, there was heavy traffic and congestion in the parking lots around the venue as people headed home.

In short, the crowds come with the morning arrival and with the evening departure in the second half of the holidays. In the 2027 calendar, the weekday of April 30 (Friday) and the early afternoon of the first weekend (May 1 and 2) look like the better choices. This is only a reading of past patterns, though, and the weather can change how people move a great deal.

What kind of pottery you will find

The sellers are Hasami ware kilns, trading companies and potters. The venue layout includes rows of tents under kiln names, and an area for young artisans and brands. Besides pottery, there are also stalls for knives, bamboo work and food.

Hasami ware is a region of porcelain. Since the Edo period it has made large quantities of tableware that ordinary people could use every day. From classic white porcelain with indigo sometsuke to modern pieces in colored glazes and matte textures, you will find pottery for the everyday table.

The history of the region is in our article on Hasami ware, and how it differs from neighboring Arita is in Arita vs Hasami porcelain.

What you can do at the venue

• Pottery experiences　Overglaze painting (World Kiln Plaza, paid), slip casting (in front of the Workers' Welfare Hall), and demonstrations and hands-on sessions on the hand wheel (inside some sellers' booths).
• Shipping　There is a Sagawa Express shipping counter at the venue. You can send what you buy straight home, so you do not have to carry it around.
• Prize draw　You receive draw tickets according to what you buy at the venue, and can draw in front of the Ceramics Hall (9am to 5pm).
• Rest areas　Besides the rest tents, there is a rest area on the second floor of the Industrial Cooperative. Nursing and diaper-changing areas are on the first floor of the Workers' Welfare Hall (headquarters) and the second floor of the Industrial Cooperative.

How to get around the Hasami Pottery Festival 2027

• (1) Get into a parking lot by 8-something　You avoid both full lots and traffic jams. Walking in as the venue opens at 9am is the easiest way.
• (2) Keep the venue map at hand　A layout of the roughly 150 shops is published as a PDF on the official website. Save it on your phone and you will not get lost.
• (3) Walk around once before you buy　This region has many similar white pieces. Seeing everything first means fewer regrets.
• (4) Ship heavy pieces　Plates and bowls in sets get heavy quickly. Use the shipping counter at the venue.
• (5) Avoid the evening peak on the way home　In the second half of the holidays, the evening exodus causes traffic jams. Leave early, or wait a while after closing before you set off.

Visiting the Arita Pottery Fair over the same seven days

The Arita Pottery Fair in Arita, Saga Prefecture, is also usually held over the same dates, April 29 to May 5. The 2026 fair was the 122nd. With hundreds of shops lining the streets of the town, it is the largest pottery fair in Japan.

• By train, base yourself in Arita　Arrive at Arita Station, walk the Arita Pottery Fair, then take the shuttle bus from the Arita bus stop to Hasami. The wristband lets you go back and forth. The last bus from Hasami is at 17:30 (2026).
• With two days, give each one a day　Both are large fairs. Arita on the first day and Hasami on the second lets you take your time at both.
• Shop for different things　You can choose one special piece in Arita and a set of everyday pottery in Hasami.

Arita Pottery Fair venues and how to avoid the crowds are in our article on the Arita Pottery Fair, and the character of the pottery is in our article on Arita ware.

What to bring to the pottery fair

• Both cash and cashless payment　Whether a shop takes cashless payment differs from shop to shop. Parking also differs: the special large lot is cashless only and the others are cash only. There are ATMs at a bank about 5 minutes' walk from the venue and at a convenience store about 10 minutes away.
• A sturdy bag　Useful for whatever you do not send by courier.
• Newspaper or a towel　Some shops wrap simply. Be ready to wrap the pottery you carry home yourself.
• Comfortable shoes　You walk a lot, from the parking lot to the venue and around the venue itself.
• Rain gear　The selling areas are under large tents, but there is no roof between the parking lots and the tents.

There are no lockers at the venue. The organizer asks visitors not to bring pets as a rule, and if you do bring one, you need to follow the official guidelines.

Related reading

Hasami and Arita

• Hasami Ware: Everyday Japanese Porcelain from Nagasaki
• Arita vs Hasami Porcelain: Why the Same White Porcelain Took Two Paths
• Hasami Ware Nakaoyama Autumn Pottery Festival 2026 | Walking Tour of the Chimney Village
• Arita Pottery Fair: The Usual Dates, and How to Miss the Million-Person Crowd
• Arita Ware: Japan's First Porcelain, 400 Years On

Before you go to a pottery fair

• Japan Pottery Fair Calendar 2026-2027: 90 Dates and Venues
• How to Visit a Japanese Pottery Fair: 9 Regions Compared
• Japanese Pottery: The Complete Guide