Mashiko Pottery Travel Guide by Angus Miyaji

About this Mashiko Pottery Travel Guide

This Mashiko pottery travel guide is designed to offer ideas for people interested in Mashiko pottery on how to enjoy Mashiko.

Who is this travel guide for?

This Mashiko pottery travel guide is aimed towards Japanese pottery enthusiast. Activities on this page can be experienced very easily.

Total budget?

Each activity is Free – ¥5,000 per person

01

Enjoy when

Hamada family's studio and museum

Shoji Hamada Memorial Mashiko Sankokan Museum (known also as Sankokan) is Hamada’s family pottery studio and museum. There is also a famous climbing kiln and a seasonal flower garden open to the public.

Entrance fee: 800yen

(Location: Google Map)

02

Enjoy when

Admire the art of Pottery

Just behind the main street in Mashiko (Jyonaizaka street) is Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, also known as Ceramic Art Messe Mashiko, which holds a wide collection of art pieces made by local potters as well as overseas potters.

Next to the museum is Hamada Shoji’s original house (open to the public) a kiln and residence for overseas potters so if you are lucky you might be able to see potters using the kiln.

Entrance fee: 600 yen
(Seniors: 300 yen, Children: 300 yen)

(Location: Google Map)

02 Enjoy when

03

Enjoy when

Make your own pottery

In Mashiko there are more that 250 pottery studios and pottery shops. Many of these offer pottery classes and will fire your items and send them to you when they are ready. Furuki and Tsukamoto are two pottery studios that welcome overseas guests who can’t speak Japanese.

(Furuki location: Google Map)
(Tsukamoto location: Google Map)

04

Enjoy when

Pottery shopping

There are many shops on the main street of Mashiko (Jyonaizaka street) that sell Mashiko pottery, so make sure to walk around the center of town when you are there. Also, there is a weekend morning market that sells small items at discounted prices as well as the two large pottery fairs a year that attracts tens of thousands of shoppers from Japan and overseas.(Currently the weekend market and pottery fairs are on hold due to COVID)

Jyonaizaka street: Google Map
More info: Spring Pottery Fair
More info: Autumn Pottery Fair

04 Enjoy when

05

Enjoy when

Drink sake with Mashiko cups

After learning about Mashiko pottery and making your own, it’s now time to taste the award winning local sake with sake cups made by local Mashiko potters. Head over to Tonoike sake brewery to take an English tour of the brewery and taste their amazing sake.

(Location: Google Map)

Japanese

Soma

Soma is a traditional Japanese restaurant between Mashiko station and Jyonaizaka street. The owner used to work in Tokyo and moved to Mashiko where he can have access to fresh local vegetables. Good quality delicious meals.

Lunch: 1,200-3,000 per person
Dinner: 2,000-5,000 per person
English-No (But welcoming)
Location : Google Map

Western / Other

Curry Kitchen Yamani

Yamani is a popular local restaurant at the top of Jyonaizaka street (just before Kyohan center). Their speciality is ‘soba’ made from local soba wheat and ‘vegetable Japanese curry’ also made by local ingredients. Both are delicious!

Lunch : 1,000-2,000JPY
English-No (But easy to understand menu with photos)
Location : Google Map

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

Lunch

Dinner

Stay

Mashiko Town

Find out more here »

Discover Mashiko page

An online guide about Mashiko to help overseas visitors explore Mashiko.

Local writer: Splitting his time between London and Japan, Angus works closely with local travel companies and local tourism organisations in North of Tokyo (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma & Saitama prefectures). In addition to promoting tourism, Angus also helps local sake breweries market their SAKE overseas. (Head of NearbyTokyo.com)