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[Mashiko Pottery Experience] Try your hand at making your very own unique piece of pottery!
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Mashiko Town offers many pottery classes where you can casually create your own original work. You can experience authentic pottery wheel turning, hand-shaping to create free-form pottery, painting with your favorite design, and more. Classes take about 40 minutes to 2 hours. We accept individuals, ...
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Mashiko Town stretches gently in the southeastern part of Tochigi Prefecture, north of the Kanto Plain. This land, nurtured by the changing nature of the four seasons and gently rolling mountains, produces high-quality potter's clay, which is the raw material for pottery. When you wrap it in your palm, you can feel the warmth of the earth, and it has become known not only in Japan but also overseas as ``Mashiko ware''. Another major attraction is the enterprising character of the area, which has long been a base for the folk art movement and has welcomed potters from both Japan and abroad. You will be able to experience the depth of Mashiko every time you come into contact with its long-cultivated history, culture, and rich nature.
What is Mashiko ware?
It is said that Mashiko ware began in the late Edo period when Otsuka Keizaburo, who had trained in Kasama, built a kiln. Initially, it developed as a production area for everyday items such as bowls, water jars, and earthenware teapots. In 1924, Hamada Shoji moved to the area and promoted the Mingei movement together with Yanagi Muneyoshi, who focused on the "beauty of utility." This had a major impact on local craftsmen, and Mashiko ware began to take on an artistic aspect as well. Currently, there are around 160 kilns and 50 pottery shops. Works by a wide variety of potters, from young to veteran, are on display.
About Mashiko Pottery Experience
Flow of the pottery experience
① Choose a location for your experience. Some facilities have English-speaking instructors. Please see here for a list of facilities where you can experience the experience.
② Make a reservation. Reservation methods vary depending on the facility, so please check the website of each facility for details.
③Please arrive at your reservation time on the day.
How to experience
Click here to learn how to experience.
Fee
This varies depending on each facility. Please contact the facility directly.
Access to Mashiko Town
By train
Take the Tohoku Shinkansen/JR Utsunomiya Line to Oyama Station, transfer to the Mito Line and get off at Shimodate Station, then transfer to the Moka Railway and get off at Mashiko Station.
Take the Tohoku Shinkansen/JR Utsunomiya Line to Utsunomiya Station, then take the Kanto Bus bound for Mashiko from bus stop number 14 at the west exit for approximately 70 minutes.
Take the Tsukuba Express to Moriya Station, transfer to the Kanto Railway Jōsō Line and get off at Shimodate Station, then transfer to the Moka Railway and get off at Mashiko Station.
If you are using an express bus
From Akihabara Station, take the Ibaraki Kotsu express bus "Kanto Yakimono Liner" for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.
By car
〇Tohoku Expressway "Tochigi-Tsuga JCT" → Kita-Kanto Expressway "Moka IC" → National Route 294 or National Route 121 to Mashiko (approximately 25 minutes).
〇Jouban Expressway "Tomobe JCT" → Kita-Kanto Expressway "Sakuragawa Chikusei IC" → Prefectural Route 41 to Mashiko (approx. 20 minutes).
Mashiko Town stretches gently in the southeastern part of Tochigi Prefecture, north of the Kanto Plain. This land, nurtured by the changing nature of the four seasons and gently rolling mountains, produces high-quality potter's clay, which is the raw material for pottery. When you wrap it in your palm, you can feel the warmth of the earth, and it has become known not only in Japan but also overseas as ``Mashiko ware''. Another major attraction is the enterprising character of the area, which has long been a base for the folk art movement and has welcomed potters from both Japan and abroad. You will be able to experience the depth of Mashiko every time you come into contact with its long-cultivated history, culture, and rich nature.
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