Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art (益子陶芸美術館) 益子陶芸美術館
In the garden stands the actual house of Hamada Shōji, a Living National Treasure, here since 1930.
Mashiko has produced ceramics since the late Edo period, helped by the good local clay and its closeness to Tokyo. Today it has about 160 kilns and 50 shops, and twice a year, in spring and autumn, it hosts the 陶器市, the pottery fair that draws about 600,000 visitors a season to about 600 stalls across the town. Hamada Shōji, who settled there in the 1920s, is considered the father of the ‘mingei’ (folk crafts) movement linked to this small town.
Tochigi
Mashiko, Mashiko Museum Entrance
