Kyushu Ceramic Museum

Kyushu Ceramic Museum is a specialized pottery art museum located in the Arita area of Saga Prefecture. It exhibits ceramics from across Kyushu as well as Hizen-region works such as Arita ware and Hasami ware, including pieces by contemporary ceramic artists. The museum presents the history of Kyushu ceramics and the features of different regions and eras in an easy-to-understand way. Highlights include the Kanbara Collection of Ko-Imari and the Shibata Collection of Edo-period Arita ware, displayed together. Exhibition spaces are roughly divided into five areas, including rotating special exhibitions, a permanent exhibition of works by Kyushu artists, and “Kyushu Ancient Ceramics,” which showcases masterpieces such as early Karatsu ware, early Imari ware, Kakiemon-style pieces, and porcelain from the Nabeshima domain kiln. In the exhibition hall, an Arita-ware mechanical music box plays every 30 minutes to mark the time, and 25 bells gifted from Meissen, Germany (Arita’s sister city) are installed on the building’s exterior, ringing out across the town. Access: by car, about 10 minutes from Hasami-Arita IC on the Nishi-Kyushu Expressway, or about 30 minutes from Takeo-Kitagata IC on the Nagasaki Expressway. By public transportation, about 12 minutes on foot (or 4 minutes by taxi) from “Arita Station” (JR Sasebo Line / Matsuura Railway Nishi-Kyushu Line).