Having a "Golden" Time at Arita & Hasami Pottery Festivals

This past weekend started Japan's Golden Week, and golden was it! Sunshine galore, warm enough for shorts and tank tops, and some golden opportunities that took us out in the surrounding prefectures to explore!

Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days. In combination with well-placed weekends, the Golden Week becomes one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons, besides New Year and the Obon week. Schools shut down, grocery stores run low, and local restaurants close early to take part in this week of fun! Since I still have school and Bryan still has that pesky job, we had only two days to soak in the festivities, so we knew we had to make the most of it!

The Host Nation teacher at my school sent an email Friday afternoon about the Arita and Hasami Pottery Festivals in the neighboring Saga Prefecture. As soon as I got the email, I forwarded it to Bryan and begged him to take me. I was shocked when he said he was in! So Sunday morning, we rose with the birds and hit the backcountry roads towards Hasami! We got there right as they opened at 9 am and began our day of pottery shopping!

thanks 2 instagram 4 the info

country view otw to Hasami

A little history: Arita is known globally for its "Arita ware" porcelain. Arita and the surrounding area have been making porcelain pottery since the 17th century, when Sam-pyeong Yi, a Korean potter, discovered porcelain clay near Mt. Izumi. As Arita grew, so did its population of local potters. Arita and Hasami have grown to produce most of the country's Japanese Pottery! And its all happening 30 minutes from our home in Sasebo!

This festival was much larger than we anticipated! Under three large tents sat sectioned-off areas that local pottery shops rented for the week. Each shop displayed their shop's pottery, and allowed for thin walkways for everyone to browse their stuff. Being a cash-only event, we were ready to seek out some new treasures for our home- and boy, did we succeed!

Stego and his new wife, Meg, met us for a few hours of shopping too! Stego had just returned to Japan with Meg, so this was an eye-opening day as Meg dove right into the craziness of the pottery festival and a new culture! She isn't wasting any time!

By noon, Bryan was still hanging with me, but he was getting hungry. So we grabbed some meat-on-a-stick from one of the local food vendors and sat with Stego and Meg to chat. Eventually the new couple headed back to Sasebo, Bryan took a load of pottery to the car, and I continued my shopping trip around the tented vendor area! At this point, we had found new sets of bowls and bread plates to replace our generic Sams ceramic set we got over five years ago for our wedding! Both of us were stoked with our finds and, surprisingly, ready to continue our porcelain hunt in Arita!

Around 1 pm, Bryan and I made our way back to the car and took off to Arita, home to the original, more traditional-styled Japanese pottery. Knowing we liked the more modern Japanese Pottery style, we weren't sure we would find anything. And we were right, when it came to the Arita pottery. We didn't want anything depicting a dragon, a fat balding man or an angry ogre-god, and that's a lot of what Arita is known for. BUT we did find a vendor selling the original stone coffee filters!

Invented and designed in Arita, the stone coffee filter is pretty much a porous rock that you add your coffee beans and hot water to, and it acts as a natural filter and, is said to make, amazing coffee! I had just told Bryan all about this coffee filter back in Hasami, and we luckily stumbled upon an older gentleman selling them at the Arita Pottery Festival! So while we didn't get any pottery in Arita, I did walk away with a new coffee method to try out!

We were having such a good time, we went back to the Hasami Pottery Festival to walk through it one more time. Y'all, my husband chose to go shopping again. That just shows you how much he loves me (and maybe how much he loves the pottery we picked out earlier!) We were hoping to find a plate set, but our luck had run out. After taking note of the three shops with our favorite styles of pottery, we headed back to the car with a few extra bowls and a whole lot of happiness for our new treasures! Bryan even said he wants to take a day trip back to Hassami to visit our three favorite shops' locations later once the festival is over! WOW!

Of course, with this second visit, Bryan was in need of another snack (or two) to keep him satisfied!

local potter

Bryan needed a snack

...or two...

The festival ended at 5pm, and we were walking back to our car at 4:30. We had spent all day walking through these two festivals and were beyond stoked with our finds! By the end of the day, we left with a set of 6 ramen bowls, 6 "noodle" bowls, 6 bread plates and one lovely Japan dog bowl (that Bryan said was too ugly to buy more than one, so that bowl is 100% all mine!) Our tapir plates were a must-buy since they combine our past two homes- made in Japan and a reminder of our California visits to the San Diego Zoo! While these items may not be everyone's taste, we are proud to say we have our first "Japanese keepsakes" to take back to the states with us one day!

Check out what we got:

Ramen Bowls

"Noodle" Bowls

Tapir Bread Plates

Our weekend was packed with Japanese culture, and it was all because my Host Nation teacher sent an email. I'm beyond thankful for a husband who jumps in the car and takes off on day adventures with me- even when it revolves around the word "shopping!"

'til next time,

--Katie