Discover a Japanese town full of ceramics, ceramic artists, wonderful local food and culture. Travel to us free - in VR!
  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads

09 - Walking in Ichinokura
a tajimi pottery town (part 02)

Picture
Our goal for this walk - the site of an ancient kiln and shrine
Welcome to another walk in Tajimi!
​
Ichinokura village is a treat for the pottery enthusiast. Here you will find the Ichinokura Sakazuki Art Museum, where you can enjoy exhibitions of Kobei Katō​'s works, Mino ware as well as a collection Persian pottery, among other things. Just as in the first part of our Ichinokura walks, we start in front of the museum.

Getting off the bus

Your start- and/or end point

Walk from the bus stop across the river, turn to the left where you find the museum and this pizza restaurant.

towards the kobegama kiln

Today we start from the old locomotive next to the Sakazuki Museum. In the heydays of Tajimi, ceramic goods produced by the thriving industry were originally transported on the Tono Line by steam engines. This engine was a post-war work horse, unique in the sense that is was powered by a bus engine. As we head towards the famous Kobei-gama Kiln we pass the Kobei-gama Ceramics Studio Sakuto-kan Workshop Hall where you can try making your own pottery. 

the kobei-gama kiln

The Kobei-gama kiln is one of the most famous in Tajimi city. In a separate article, we interview master potter Ryotaro Katō (44), who is full of energy and passion for ceramics. He spoke to us about Persian lusterware and its revival here at Kobei-gama. There is also a wonderful old pottery museum on the premises, where you can see fantastic old Persian pottery collected by Ryotaro's grandfather, Takuo Kato, for his pottery research.

360 view of the anagama kiln in autumn

Kobe-gama Pottery was founded in 1804 in Ichinokura town in Tajimi, by first-generation founder Katō Kobei in Mino-no-kuni, who dyed and supplied tableware to high-ranking customers, including the lords of the enormous Edo castle in present-day Tokyo. Takuo Kato, the sixth generation master at the Koubei Kinl, accomplished the important feat of bringing to Japan and restoring ancient pottery from Iran, where the Persian pottery culture already had ceased to exist.

A 360 view of a section of the lusterware museum in the Kobe kiln main building
The late Living National Treasure, Takuo Katō (1917–2005), who was the sixth-generation master ceramicist of the Kobei-Gama Pottery, was the man who first found interest in ancient Persian lusterware ceramics. It’s beautiful blue and three-colour glazes inspired him to revive the techniques of the Persian potters that had been completely lost after the 17th century.

​While Takuo Katō contributed greatly to the revival of Persian ceramics, Ryotaro now looks to revitalise Minoware.

“Famous samurai lords like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, as well as tea masters like Sen no rikyu are part of the history of ceramics here. I am working to make the tea utensils they used. By the time of the Momoyama era, pottery reached a golden age in the Mino province [the historic name of this region], and important forms of Japanese pottery were born here. The next generation potters need to take up this tradition again. Most young ceramists want to do modern pottery, but I feel a better choice is to mix the best of traditional ceramics with modern designs. I spent my college years in Kyoto, and when I came back I could see that what we have in Mino is something very special.”

the road to the old kiln site

 We continue our walk up the hill towards the site for the old kiln and shinto shrine, the goal for our journey today. This is perhaps the most picturesque of all our walking courses in our series. The road is narrow and lined by pretty houses. Some are pottery studios or small factories. But where is that old kiln site? We keep on walking and soon we are lost. Google maps is not very helpful, we have to rely on a photo of a map produced by the local community. Luckily the weather is beautiful - by my Scandinavian standards this could be summer, although we are still in early March. 
We end up in a bamboo forest that seems to be private land, and have to walk back again. This time we climb another narrow path up the hill, and in a while we spy a woman walking her dog down the slope from the opposite direction. We ask her for directions. "A shrine?" she says. "I am not sure about that." People who have moved here in recent years are probably not very familiar with the local history, perhaps she too is new to this neighborhood. She thinks for a while. "Oh, maybe I know," she starts walking up the steep hill. It's quite a climb, her dog has short legs but doesn't seem to have any complaints, it even has spare energy for jumping and playing as we huff and puff up the slope. "This is hospitality in the Japanese countryside," I think to myself. "Most big city dwellers couldn't be bothered to guide us this way."
Picture
On our way up the hill we passed this old warehouse, with typically thick walls and doors to protect the valuable goods inside.

The woman stops and points to the top of the hill. "That's probably the place you are looking for," she says. A gravel road leads up to the top, and we continue our climb. As we do so, we start to see shards of old pottery everywhere on the ground. This must be the kiln site.
Finally we reach the top, and find an open area with a small, simple altar. It has an inscription, reading Suiten-gū  (水天宮). The meaning of the characters is water-heavens-shrine from left to right. 
Suiten-gū is the name of numerous Shinto shrines in Japan. The deity enshrined varies from place to place. Typically it is a protector of things related to water, such as ships, fishing, and agriculture, as well as children. Water is very important for ceramics production, and kilns were always built near water. Perhaps this is why this deity was chosen to guard this place.

There seems to be a deep relation between Shinto shrines and kilns. We started our first walk in this series near the Hakusan Shrine in Onada village. There are historic remains of very old kilns there as well. Although not directly related to pottery, there are Shinto deities related to earth and fire. Even the old Greeks saw a divine connection to pottery. Homer's Epigram's fragment 14, for example, says: "Come, then, Athena [goddess of pottery], with hand upraised over the kiln. Let the pots and all the dishes turn out well and be well fired." Kiln work was incredibly laborious and a bad firing incurred a substantial loss. It's not difficult to imagine that Japanese potters, too, sought divine help to avoid unwelcome results. 

returning to the starting point

On our way back we passed a small ceramics factory - lots of cups and plates were lined up in front of the factory building. While there are no real landmarks along the road back, we noted the unusual name of the bridge across the water - o-inu-sama-bashi (the bridge of the honorable dog). "O" is a prefix usually used for things important or honorable, and "sama" is likewise often used as a very polite affix meaning "Mr. or Ms". "Inu" is dog, and "hashi" (or "bashi" as in this compound) is bridge. One wonder what kind of dog lived here that was honorable enough to have a bridge comemorating it.

​

Map of walking course

As usual we provide a map you can use for navigation.
Click the icon in the top left corner to see legend

Kobei-gama Ceramics Studio Sakuto-kan Workshop Hall
Visit the Japanese site.
This facility allows visitors to experience pottery making using the 'clay' and 'glaze' used by the famous Koubei Kiln, which boasts a history of more than 210 years.
Their experienced staff will help you make your pottery. At the Sakutokan, you can make your own Oribe or Kizeto bowls by using the rokuro (potter's wheel) or hand-building (you can choose from 12 different glazes), and there are also underglaze painting and mosaic tile art experiences that even small children can enjoy.
Kobei-gama Kiln
Visit the English site.
Kobeigama Pottery was founded in 1804 and its tablewares were delivered as a purveyor to Shogun household to Edo Castle. Since then, we have continued to light its kiln for generations to produce numerous ceramics and porcelain works that have been in step with times.
During the long history of Kobeigama, it has been continuing to emphasize artistry, and Takuo Kato, the sixth generation potter, was designated a living national treasure by the Japanese Government.
The Mino Ceramic Village, which includes museum itself and surrounding buildings at Kobei-gama, has been awarded two-stars in the Michelin Green Guide.​

maPS

  • EAT & DRINK
  • LODGING
  • EXPERIENCES
Tajimi Tourist Association
Business hours: Every day 09:00 - 18:00
Tel 0572-24-6460
Find out more
Japan's first Virtual Reality pottery site - Tajimi
Discover the Mecca of pottery in Japan
Produced by Mimir LLC, a VR company

Services

海外発信サポート
インバウンド観光
観光企画
VR映像、HP制作
言語サポート

Company

​会社案内
会社概要
業務内容
​​ハンス カールソン

Support

問い合わせ
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
© 2017 Tajimi Tourism Association
  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads