Tokoname has a 900 year-old history of pottery and is one of the six historic pottery towns of Japan. Chances are you’ve already been to Tokoname a few times with even knowing it. Located 40 minutes south of Nagoya, the coastal town of Tokoname is home to Central Japan International Airport.

Photo: Courtesy of Tokoname City

Tokoname is famous for its distinctive red tea pots. Clay from local rice fields contains a lot of iron, giving the resulting finished pottery a rich, deep, red colour. Following from During the late Edo era, the popularity of drinking green tea increased, and kilns in the town started to produce redware teapots, which had previously been imported from China, to meet demand.
In the 1900s mass production was introduced and used in the manufacture of ceramic pipes, tiles, cladding, and storage vessels. The ceramic tradition made a dramatic change from small scale domestic production to an industrial scale of manufacturing for a mass market.

At the zenith of the Tokoname pottery industry during the 1950’s, over 300 to 400 brick chimneys dominated the town’s skyline belching out pure black smoke into the sky blocking out the sun light. Further improvements in industrial production soon in the 1950’s meant that gas, electricity and oil became the major source of power in the production of pottery in Tokoname and the chimneys started to disappear one by one.

Today, various types of clays from other pottery from across Japan come to Tokoname. Material for porcelain products has to be brought to Tokoname from other places. Clay also comes from Seto, Shigaraki and Iga. In the old days each pottery town had one specific and unique type of ceramics due to its original clay, but nowadays it has changed. Ceramics giant Inax Corporation along with many other smaller companies are based in Tokoname, producing a wide range of ceramics from construction tiles and sanitary ware to table ware, vases and art pottery

■Access
As Tokoname City is located just beside the Central Japan International Airport, getting there from Nagoya is very easy. Tokoname Station is about 35 minutes from Nagoya or Kanayama on the Meitetsu “Tokoname Line”　常滑線 Express.

■Exploring Tokoname
Visitors to the pottery town can explore the traditional heritage of the area by taking the Pottery Footpath of Tokoname (Yakimono Sanpomichi やきもの散歩道). The path’s starting point is only a 5 minute walk from Tokoname Station.

The Pottery Footpath area flourished as the center of the ceramic industry in the early and mid 1900s producing ceramic pipes, bowls and jars. The area that the path follows is filled with traditional houses, workshops and other unique and characteristic buildings. The area has remained unchanged, keeping its pottery-town atmosphere unique to Tokoname. Though there are some factories and potters' studios which are still operating, the number of them has declined compared to its heyday.

■NIC Walking Guides
Before you embark on your trek, don’t go without the NIC’s Tokoname Walking Guide – available from the NIC 3F Information Counter or downloadable in a printer-friendly PDF format from our website. Contained in the guide is a photo-guided model walking route that will take you past a variety of cultural and historical attractions situated around the walking course.

Walking guides to Nagoya Castle, the Nakasendo, Seto, and Nagoya’s Cultural Path are also available on our website. All guides have been prepared by Nagoya International Center Volunteers.

■Tokoname Yaki Matsuri 常滑焼まつり
Sit down at a potter's wheel and have a go at making your very own Tokoname Yakimono under the instruction of a local expert. A large range of unique local pottery and ceramics is also available at low prices. From around 19:00 there is a large fireworks display over the ocean.
When: August 22 (09:00 - 21:00) & August 23 (09:00 - 17:00)
Where: Tokoname Kyotei Kaijo 常滑競艇会場, Tokoname City
Admission: Free
Access: Tokoname Kyotei Kaijo located next to Tokoname City Hall and is a 10 minute walk south of Meitetsu Tokoname Station 常滑.

■Further Information
Tourist guide materials including a detailed course map of the pottery path are available at the Tokoname City Tourist Information Center 常滑市観光案内所(located inside Tokoname Station) and the Tokoname City Ceramic Hall常滑市陶磁器会館(Tokoname Tojiki Kaikan) - which is just next to the starting point of the path.

Free volunteer Guides are available in English or Japanese for groups of 5 or more. Reservations are required up to 5 days in advance. For reservations call the Tokoname City Tourist Information Center at 0569-34-8888

For further information about the history of Tokoname pottery see the Ceramics Today website : www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/tokoname.htm