Japanese Pottery Articles
Regions and kilns, techniques, how to choose and care for your pieces. Articles to start your journey into Japanese pottery.
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Tsuboya Yachimun Street: Okinawa's Pottery Quarter
A walk down Tsuboya Yachimun Street in Naha, Okinawa's pottery quarter: how to get there by monorail, the p...
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Visiting Imbe: A Day in Bizen's Pottery Village
How to spend a day in Imbe, the home of Bizen ware: getting there from Okayama, what is open while the stat...
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Pottery Towns Near Kyoto: Day Trips to Shigaraki, Tamba and Iga
Three pottery towns are close enough to Kyoto for a day trip: Shigaraki, Tamba Tachikui and Iga. How they d...
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Hasami Pottery Festival 2027 | Usually April 29 to May 5: Parking, Shuttle Buses and Avoiding the Crowds
The Hasami Pottery Festival is usually held over Golden Week, from April 29 to May 5, at Yakimono Park in H...
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Kasama Himatsuri 2027 | Kasama's Golden Week Pottery Fair: Dates, Parking, Shuttles and Avoiding the Crowds
The Kasama Himatsuri Pottery Festival is held every year from April 29 to May 5 at Kasama Geijutsu no Mori ...
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Otani Ware Kiln Festival 2026 | November 14-15: Dates, 6 Kilns, Walking from the Station
Otani ware from Tokushima is known for its huge jars. Its kiln festival takes place on Saturday November 14...
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Tableware Festival 2027 | January 15-23 at Prism Hall, Tokyo Dome City: Nine Days of Pottery for the Table
The Tableware Festival 2027 runs for nine days, from Friday, January 15 to Saturday, January 23, 2027, at P...
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Artisan Shibaoka Chikara | Raised in Imbe, Carrying Bizen Saikumono Forward
Shibaoka Chikara was born into Shibaoka Tosendo, a kiln in Imbe, the heart of Bizen ware, and grew up in a ...
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Yachimun Buying Guide: Choosing Okinawan Pottery by Shape and Studio
Yachimun is the Okinawan word for pottery. Starting from where the names come from, why "yakimono" became "...
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Kyo Ware Mugs: Four Kyoto Artisans Compared by Glaze and Shape
Kyo ware and Kiyomizu ware have no fixed clay or style, so the quickest way to choose a mug is by the artis...
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Shigaraki Ware Buying Guide: Choose by Artisan and Clay
Shigaraki is known for its tanuki figures, but this Six Ancient Kilns town also fires a great deal of every...
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How to Choose Kyo Ware and Kiyomizu Ware Plates: Five Kyoto Artisans Compared by Body and Glaze
Kyo ware and Kiyomizu ware have no fixed style, unlike Arita porcelain or unglazed Bizen ware. So when choo...
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Artisan Shoen Kiln | Ten Days of Fire, Bizen for Every Day
At Shoen kiln in Bizen, Okayama, loading the climbing kiln takes four days and firing it with split red pin...
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Artisan Shokozan | Hagi Ware Shaped by Hand, Down to the Rim
What Matsuura Takaharu of the Hagi ware kiln Shokozan cares about most is the rim. Not thinner for its own ...
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Oiso Utsuwa no Hi 2026 | A Seaside Town Pottery Walk
Oiso Utsuwa no Hi runs from October 23 to 25, 2026, in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture. The event has no single v...
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Tomoshibito no Tsudoi 2026 | Two Days of Juried Artisans
Tomoshibito no Tsudoi takes place on November 14 and 15, 2026, at Daisen Park in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. I...
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Agano Ware Autumn Kiln Opening 2026 | October 23-25: Dates, Kilns, Shuttle Bus
In Fukuchi, Fukuoka, a village of tea ware, the autumn kiln opening of Agano ware runs from Friday October ...
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Tou to Kurashi 2026 | Kasama Craft Hills, October 31 to November 3: Four Autumn Days with Mashiko
At the special venue of Kasama Craft Hills in Kasama, Ibaraki, Tou to Kurashi (Pottery and Daily Life) runs...
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Artisan Fujiwara Akira: Pulling Bizen From the Kiln to Make It Black
After two years each training in Kyo ware and in Shigaraki, Fujiwara Akira was drawn to the subdued, deep c...
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TATA pottery studio | The Charming Kyoto Porcelain Two People Make Together
TATA pottery studio is a two-person unit: ceramic artist Daiki Tanaka, who forms with moulds and the wheel,...
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Arita vs Hasami Porcelain: Why the Same White Porcelain Took Two Paths
Arita in Saga and Hasami in Nagasaki are neighbouring porcelain towns across a prefectural border. They use...
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Arita Pottery Fair: The Usual Dates, and How to Miss the Million-Person Crowd
The Arita Pottery Fair runs, in most years, from 29 April to 5 May in Arita, Saga. It is the largest potter...
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Where to Buy Pottery in Kyoto: Gojozaka, Kiyomizu & Online
Kyoto has no pottery village of the kind Arita or Shigaraki has. No clay is dug here either. And yet it has...
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Iga Pottery Festival 2026: 30 Booths, and the Home of the Donabe
The Iga Pottery Festival runs 19-21 September 2026 at Ayama Daiichi Sports Park in Iga, Mie Prefecture. The...
