Shigaraki: Japan's Historical Town of Pottery

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. 

 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!!

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.

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.

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.