Bizen
From World travel guide
Bizen (備前) is the eastern part of Okayama prefecture on the Japanese island of Honshu.
Contents |
Understand
Bizen — literally "before (the plain of) Bi" — is an ancient province known for precisely one thing: Bizen-yaki (備前焼), the oldest and most revered form of pottery in Japan. Unglazed and fairly simple in appearance, the pottery gets its cachet from the complex earthy reddish-brown tones that form when the clay is fired.
Modern day Bizen is in legal fiction a "city" (shi), but in practice an expanse of Okayama's suburbs and rice paddies. Most pottery kilns and shops, however, are concentrated near the station of Imbe (伊部).
Get in
By train
The JR Akō line connects Imbe to Okayama, where connections to the Shinkansen network are available. Trains depart about once per hour and reach Imbe in 35 minutes (¥570).
Get around
Bizen is a sprawling area, but Imbe is easily covered on foot from the train station.
See
Bizen's sights are all dedicated to pottery.
- Bizen Pottery Art Museum (備前陶芸美術館 Bizen tōgei bijutsukan). Just to the north of Imbe station, this concrete block displays both old and new exaples of Bizen-style pottery. Admission ¥500, open daily except Monday from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
Do
Many kilns around Imbe will let you try your hand at making your very own Bizen-yaki. A chunk of clay, firing and shipping anywhere in Japan (overseas delivery also possible) will set you back around ¥3000.
- Bizen-yaki Traditional Pottery Center (備前焼伝統産業会館 Bizen-yaki dentō sangyō kaikan). The easiest place to give the lathe a spin, as it is located right on the third floor of JR Imbe station. Workshops held every weekend.
Buy
The town of Imbe seems to consist nearly entirely of Bizen-yaki shops, and the large gift shop in the Pottery Art Museum has a fairly representative array of local pieces. Prices are generally steep, with even the simplest tea cups costing several thousand yen and more complex designs going for millions.
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Get out
External links
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