Arita Town 有田町

Kyûshû

Arita is situated in the west of Saga Prefecture, on the border with Nagasaki Prefecture, on the island of Kyūshū. The town, with a population of around 17,000, is famous for the Arita porcelain produced there and is regarded as the birthplace of porcelain production in Japan. Its origins date back to 1616, when Ri Sanpei, a potter deported from Korea, discovered kaolin – an essential ingredient in porcelain production – in the area and subsequently built the country’s first porcelain kiln. Tōzan-jinja, a Shinto shrine featuring many porcelain elements, was built in the mid-17th century. “Kyushu Ceramic Museum”, leading centre for the history and art of ceramics and porcelain, is exhibiting a carillon, a gift from its German twin town, Meissen. The Arita-Porcelain Park is a ceramic centered theme park, and is modeled on the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, Germany.