Arita- Japanese porcelain since 16th century 有田燒

If you are interested in Japanese porcelain and pottery, you must pay a visit to Arita in the western part of Saga prefecture in Kyushu. This is the town where porcelain clay was first found in Japan and craftsmen have been making porcelain here for over 300 years. While the main streets of the town is lined with shops selling Arita ware, there are a few historic places and museums worth seeing. My first stop was the Sueyama Shrine just off the main street. The big tori by the entrance is covered with blue and white tiles that are identifiable to Arita porcelain! There are also many large size porcelain vases on the shrine premise which make this shrine different from other shrines in Japan. Just 10 minutes walk away is the Kyushu Ceramic Museum which is on a small slope. It is quite a large museum and has a big parking just outside. Entrance and parking are both free. There are four main halls and rooms and will need about about hour to see the exhibits. I thought the most interesting piece was the large ceramic clock will sound every 30 minutes with rolling balls and moving figurines going up and down. Another interesting place to check out is the Arita Porcelain Park which is about 5 minutes drive from the Main Street. It is a big park with a building that follows that of Zwinger Palace in Germany. It is definitely not what you would expect to see in Japan’s countryside. While it is called a porcelain park, there is not much here relating to porcelain other than the Arita Pottery Workshop- where we saw most of the visitors that day. It is free to visit and there is a large souvenir shop and restaurant near the entrance. Since it is so close to the town center, you can definitely make a stop here. Arita also hosts one of the largest ceramic fair annually in early May during the Golden Week holiday. It is said to attract nearly a million visitors each year. #kyushu #arita #japantravel #explorer