Tokoname Pottery and Fermentation Sake Brewery & Artisan Pottery

Discover Tokoname, where pottery and fermentation have shaped everyday life for generations. With more than 1,000 years of ceramic history, the town became known for large storage vessels and, later, glazed crocks used to make and preserve miso, umeboshi, and pickles.

Begin at Sawada Sake Brewery, founded in 1848, to learn how local ingredients, climate, and fermentation influence its sake. Taste three varieties and a plum liqueur from Tokoname ware cups, paired with seasonal fermented bites.

Explore the historic Pottery Path, with its brick chimneys, old kilns, workshops, and galleries. Then visit Yamagen Toen, Tokoname’s only pottery specializing in traditional fermentation crocks. Third-generation artisan Yuji Koie reveals how locally sourced materials are transformed into clay and shaped using generations-old techniques.

Experience Tokoname’s fermentation culture through the sake, ceramics, and foods that connect them.