They have been making beautiful pottery in Shigaraki for thousands of years. Shigaraki pottery has a simple earthy elegance that was greatly valued by tea ceremony masters of the past, and is still very popular today. If you go there you can view a noborigama (climbing kiln) You probably won't be able to resist buying some hand made pottery from one of the many stores, but you may have trouble choosing! There are also pottery tanuki of all shapes and sizes available, and a pottery park with a small but excellent museum.