Spring Clay Walks Part 1: Arita — A Town That Comes Alive Once a Year

Arita Pottery Fair — A Once-a-Year Journey into Japan’s Historic Porcelain Town

During my residency in Takeo this May 2025, I was lucky to catch the once-a-year Arita Pottery Fair.

Arita is the neighboring town to Takeo and also happens to be the very place where porcelain clay was first discovered in Japan over 400 years ago. Naturally, my friends and I couldn’t miss the opportunity—we took the train and headed out for a day trip.

We had heard it would be crowded, but once we boarded the train, it became clear just how popular the fair was. The train was already nearly full, and it was only a regular local line. It also happened to fall during Golden Week, Japan’s busiest national holiday season, which explained the crowd.

The entire pottery fair spanned a roughly 40-minute walking route between Kami-Arita Station and Arita Station. During the festival, nearly every shop opened its doors, setting up stalls in front of their studios, and food vendors lined the streets. (I heard that outside of this event, Arita is usually a very quiet town, almost deserted—but for this one week a year, it transforms completely.)

We wandered from shop to shop, discovering all sorts of ceramic styles: from Nerikomi-focused studios to bold, rustic stoneware makers, and hand-poured molded porcelain pieces. When we got tired, we stopped at a long-established Key Coffee shop for a break and a cold drink.

The old Key Coffee shop in Arita

Lunch was a simple but satisfying plate of curry rice, which I suspect is only available during the fair. (Japanese curry tends to blend everything together—meat included—into a smooth sauce. It’s always comforting, but I found myself missing the texture of whole meat chunks.)

We each picked up a few ceramics to take home— little pieces of the town’s long history. But I did feel a small pang of disappointment that I didn’t encounter many younger or contemporary ceramic artists. Most of the shops leaned toward more traditional styles, likely handed down through generations. That said, the deep-rooted dedication to ceramics in this region is unmistakable, and still deeply inspiring.

More about the Arita Pottery Fair: https://www.japan.travel/hk/spot/317/