The Tajimi pottery festival was held on April 10 and 11 with good and attractions on display around our city. A large number of pottery lovers gathered to look through the stands crammed with all kinds of ceramics, including the Mino ware the area is famous for. Street performers lured large crowds, showing of everything from acrobatics and juggling to balance acts and musical performances. Tajimi is situated in the middle of the world's largest production area for ceramics, and vertically every kind of goods are produced here due to the very rich deposits of high quality clay.

The festival area is spread out from the station all the way to the old City Hall. There was a large variety of food stands, cafés and restaurants serving the visitors, and the beer was extra tasty in the warm spring day.

A new high-profile project to promote the city's proud ceramics tradition was present in the form of the four main characters in the upcoming animated series for TV, Yakunara Mug Cup Mo ("Let's make a mug cup too"). Look here for a collection of promotional films and trailers we have produced for the series.

There are plenty opportunities to be surprised when you stroll around the area (the walk from the station to the end of the festival area takes around twenty minutes). For example, when I stepped into one of the shops I discovered this beautiful garden at the back. There is also a café in the same shop with a view over the garden. I also discovered a table full of miniatures of historic, traditional pottery, and had a great conversation with the potter himself. The little plates are popular and sell for 3,000 yen a piece, he told me.

Tajimi Tourist Association is now running a program including around 70 different experiences where you can see and try a wide variety of ceramics and pottery related creative work.  Experiences available in English are listed in this article. Tajimi sits in the centre of the world's largest ceramics production area. The program runs from October 10 (Thur) to December 22 (Sun). A downloadable pamphlet is available here. Check our event calendar to see what is going on day by day. Welcome!

Ishoken is a ceramic research center under the direction of Nakashima Harumi, an internationally well known ceramics artist. The centre is located in Tajimi city, a famous ceramics production district in Japan. The products made in this area are called Mino-Yaki ware. 
 
There is a growing number of young students at this internationally acclaimed educational institution. The centre is now accepting new students. You can find the application form here above as well as additional information on the Internet:

https://www.city.tajimi.lg.jp/ishoken/02_apply/lab_i.html
 
The centre accepts visits between 9:00-17:00 (Japan time) on weekday. If you have any further inquiries, please feel free to contact them in English or Japanese.

HP: https://www.city.tajimi.lg.jp/ishoken/
Email: ishoken-jinzai@city.tajimi.lg.jp
 
For further information, please access the Ishoken Facebook page and Instagram library:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ishoken
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ishoken_ceramic/

Address: 4 Chome-2-5 Higashimachi, Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture 507-0801
Phone: 0572-28-3100
Directions: Click here for Google Maps directions from your location to the venue.

Opening hours: 10:00 - 18:00 (admission to 17:30)
Museum closed: Mondays, year end holidays (Dec 29 - Jan 3)
Admission fee: Adults 1,000 yen, Students 800 yen, children up to high school age: free
Note: The fee includes admission to the Finnish Design Exhibition "Marimekko Spirit".

Finnish arts and crafts received international attention and acclaim at the World Exhibition in Paris, 1900. The success became an inspirational force for a land still under Russian control to strive for national independence, and vitalized the Finnish arts and crafts movement. It developed into a cultural climate in Finland that has been described as a utopia for the creator.

By the middle of the 20th century this  movement had become an influence in the world of arts and crafts around the globe. The richness of Finnish artistic expression had a considerable impact in Japan.

2018 marks the 100 year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan. This exhibition is the first ever to offer a comprehensive display of Finnish ceramics. You are invited to enjoy exhibits of an array of Finnish artistic expression, including renowned works from the 1950's and 60's. 

A series of lectures and presentations will be made in Japanese. Please inquire if you are interested in attending.
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The Gifu Prefecture Museum of Modern Ceramic Arts (Gifuken Gendaitogei) is located in Tajimi City, cirka 40 min ride by local train from Nagoya. Nagoya can be reached in one and a half hours by bullet train from Tokyo, and in even shorter time from Osaka or Kyoto. The city is located in the world's largest ceramics production area. You will find many other things to see and do related to ceramics in Tajimi.

Detailed information on access here.
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Click here for directions by Google Maps.

Artists exhibited:

Paavo Halonen (web site here)
Maija Louekari (web site here)
Aino-Maija Metsola (web site here)

Address: 4 Chome-2-5 Higashimachi, Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture 507-0801
Phone: 0572-28-3100
Map: Click here for Google Maps directions from your location to the venue.

The Gifu Prefecture Museum of Modern Ceramic Arts (Gifuken Gendaitogei) is located in Tajimi City, cirka 40 min ride by local train from Nagoya. Nagoya can be reached in one and a half hours by bullet train from Tokyo, and in even shorter time from Osaka or Kyoto. The city is located in the world's largest ceramics production area. You will find many other things to see and do related to ceramics in Tajimi.

​Detailed information on access here.

Futao Aoyama-sensei, whom we interviewed and presented in a series of articles on this site, has been recognized by the City of Tajimi as Holder of an Intangible Cultural Asset (Shiro Tenmoku). Mr. Aoyama has spent decades trying to reproduce the Shiro Tenmoku (White Tenmoku tea bowl). This pottery is - along with Seto Guro - the only kinds of pottery known to have originated in Japan. After many years of research and test production Mr. Aoyama was able to reproduce Shiro Tenmoku very similar to the three remaining samples from 16th century Japan. He succeeded by using clay from his home village Onada, as well as the ash glazing typical for the historical kilns in the area. This is viewed as strong evidence that the historic Shiro Tenmoku were produced in Onada, and thus that Tajimi is home to one of the two kinds of native Japanese pottery styles. The image shows the making of a 360 still photography of Mr. Aoyama in his studio. The photo is available in our articles about the master potter.

​Visit the Ceramic Park in Tajimi to view and buy exquisite pottery. Prices range from a few dollars to tens and thousands of dollars. May 3rd - 6th, 10:00 - 17:00. There is also a very nice exhibition of Danish design, focused on furniture (and there is ceramics as well). See our news article here.

Get information on the Museum, access, etc. here.

View a nice panorama exhibition photo here :-).

Access information for Tajimi here.

The International Ceramics Festival Mino Executive Committee has announced the winning artworks of "11th International Ceramics Competition Mino".

All award winners and honorable mentions will be displayed in an exbitition at the Ceramics Park MINO from September 15th, 2017.

If you are interested in Mino ware, you may also enjoy our new article "The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1).