Though it is known for seaweed and Arita-yaki（有田焼）, a famous type of pottery. Arita is the first place in Japan to produce porcelain. I went to Kami-Arita（上有田）, a town whereby many things are pottery related. Even the shrine gate is made of porcelain!
Visited during the Obon holiday. It was supposed to be crowded everywhere in Japan, but the town was pretty empty when I was there. Saw a bicycle rental shop just outside the station, and rental was only 300 yen, so decided to roam the area on bicycle.
Had my 1st experience of pottery making! It was as challenging as I thought~
Saw Tombai wall alleys. Potters who lived in these back alleys in the past built high walls out of fragments of discarded pottery/porcelain to conceal their techniques from competitors.
At Arita-kan（有田館）, I could choose from shelves of porcelain cups to have my coffee.
Tozan Shrine built in the mid 1600s is dedicated to Korean potter who introduced porcelain making to Arita. The gate and guardian dog statues are made of porcelain!
There is a ceramic museum nearer to Arita station and a porcelain theme park further away from the stations which I didn't go to.
Other than Arita, also went to Karatsu（唐津）, a less known place. Checked out the castle there. Unexpectedly, the view from the top was the best I have seen from castles so far!
For those interested in Yayoi period's history, Yoshinogari Historical Park（吉野ケ里遺跡）is not to be missed, as it is the largest Yayoi Period site in Japan.
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