Kasama: Pottery You Buy From the Maker, Not a Museum Case

During Golden Week, about 200 potters set up their own stalls in Kasama's Geijutsu-no-Mori park. The bowl in your hand was made by the person standing beside it, and you can ask them the price. Here, pottery isn't a "work" behind glass — it's a thing you weigh, compare, and carry home. That short distance between maker and buyer is the town in a nutshell.

Why this town is not just another local stop

Kasama grew up as the temple town of Kasama Inari Shrine, and from medieval into Edo times it was also the castle town of the Kasama clan on Mt. Shirajiro. But what defines it now is neither shrine nor castle — it's clay.

Kasama ware began around 1772–1780, when a local named Kuno Han'emon opened a kiln under a potter from Shigaraki. In 1992 it was designated a national traditional craft. And the skill traveled: Mashiko ware — the better-known pottery just over the prefectural line — is said to have been started in 1853 by a man who had learned the Kasama techniques. The famous name downstream traces back here.

What to see first

• Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum (inside Geijutsu-no-Mori park, opened 2000): a prefectural museum devoted to ceramics, holding works by Itaya Hazan and Living National Treasure Matsui Kosei. It lets you see Kasama inside the wider arc of modern Japanese ceramics, not as an isolated local style.
• Kasama Inari Shrine, founded in 651 by tradition, dedicated to the deity Uka-no-Mitama. Its main hall became a national Important Cultural Property in 1988, and wisteria trees roughly 400 years old (a prefectural natural monument) stand beside the worship hall.

The one detail to remember

In Kasama, pottery exists to be bought from its maker, not admired from a rope line. The Himatsuri ("pottery fair") started in 1982 when 36 kilns gathered around open-firing pits; today around 200 makers take part, usually April 29–May 5. Choosing a bowl here is, in practice, a conversation with the person who made it — and that's the single best reason to come.

How to spend half a day here

If your dates line up, build the day around a seasonal event: the Himatsuri (late April–early May) or the chrysanthemum festival (late October–late November, centered on Kasama Inari Shrine). Outside those windows, a natural half-day runs Kasama Inari Shrine → the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum → browsing kilns and pottery shops. One honest caveat: local travel times between these are not yet confirmed in our sources (see Open issues).

Who should visit

• People who love ceramics and value buying straight from the maker
• Travelers who'd rather walk a working town than tick off a polished attraction
• Anyone wanting a quiet, craft-led day trip or overnight from the Tokyo area

Who can skip it

• Travelers chasing big landmarks or headline scenery in one packed day
• Anyone with no interest in pottery or markets and no plan to buy anything
• Visitors who can't match the fair/azalea/chrysanthemum seasons and don't enjoy a slow town walk for its own sake

Before you go

• The Himatsuri usually runs Apr 29–May 5, but dates can shift year to year — check the current schedule first.
• Nearest stations are Kasama (JR Mito Line) and Tomobe (JR Joban Line). Travel time from Tokyo and local transport around town are not yet confirmed [needs verification].
• Azaleas at Kasama Tsutsuji Park are said to peak around Golden Week, but the figures (number of plants, area) are not yet source-confirmed [needs verification].