Shigaraki: Japan's Historical Town of Pottery
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Located in Koka District, Shiga Prefecture, Shigaraki is known for the famous Shigaraki ware; made out of the orange sandy clay from the bed of Lake Bida. If you are looking for somewhere quieter, empty with lots of nice scenery, then Shigaraki will be a good fit.
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The town is also named the Raccoon city because of its famous raccoon pottery that comes in various sizes and they are mostly depicted with a hat, walking stick and a sake flask. Just so adorable!!
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There are probably more pottery of raccoons in this town that the human population. The streets are lined with various display of pottery and every home has about 2-4 pottery displays and antiques decorating house-fronts.
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You can also try your hands on pottery making during your visit. Its a big artisinal village and mostly have foreign students visiting to learn pottery for a few weeks or months. This pottery house I visited has over 50 sitting capacity and you can mold, paint and design your own ceramic bowl which you can take home after baking. I was able to complete these three bowls for the first time in just about 50 minutes with the help of a very skilled master potter.
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Shigaraki its almost 30 minutes away from Wazuka and also very accessible by bike since there are a lot of mountain bike trails around for biking tournaments. If you are interested in touring Shigaraki and doing a pottery class, please reach out via info@dmatcha.com for more inquiries about our Shigaraki tour.