Echizen has been firing pottery for some 850 years. It is one of the few production sites that have continued without interruption since medieval times — one of the Six Ancient Kilns that form the mainstream of Japanese ceramic history.
What was made here was not tea ware for the connoisseur. These were jars, pots and mortars for storing grain, brewing sake and salting fish. They were carried by ship along the Sea of Japan coast, north to the Tohoku region and south toward Kansai, and Echizen ware became part of everyday life across a wide stretch of the country.
No two pieces are the same, and none of them are decorated. The appeal lies in the clay itself, and in the marks left behind by the fire. The tradition of making durable vessels that draw on the qualities of the local clay continues to this day.
The kiln sites around Ozowara have become a village of kilns and studios. There is a museum, a gallery showing the work of contemporary artists, and a park where large ceramic sculptures stand among the trees.
Echizen Ware Village lies inland in Echizen Town, in the hills south of Sabae.
Most visitors come by car. It is about 10 minutes from the Sabae Interchange on the Hokuriku Expressway, and can be combined with the lacquerware and knife workshops elsewhere in this area, or followed by a drive along the Echizen Coast.
Without a car, the nearest station is Takefu on the JR Hokuriku Line, from where a taxi takes around 20 minutes. Bus services are limited.
Allow around two hours for the museum and the studios together. Pottery workshops are available, and most require booking in advance. If you would like to try the wheel, let us know early and we can guide you through it.