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Only dedicated lovers of ceramics will want to linger in drab IMBE ,
30km east of Okayama and home of Bizen-yaki, Japan's oldest method of
making pottery, developed here over 1000 years ago. The ceramics'
distinctive earthy colour and texture is achieved without the use of
glazes, by firing in wood-fuelled kilns, whose brick chimneys you'll see
dotted around Imbe Station. Beside the station is a tourist information
counter (daily except Tues 9am-6pm; tel 0869/64-1100), where you can
pick up an English leaflet about Bizen-yaki and get directions to the
local pottery museums, the best being the Bizen Pottery Traditional and
Contemporary Art Museum (Tues-Sun 9.30am-4.30pm; ¥500), in the grey
concrete block immediately north of the station. This museum displays
both old and new examples of the ceramics, providing an overview of the
pottery's style and development.
There are plenty of kilns with attached shops which you can mooch around
in Imbe, and at some there are studios where you can sculpt your own
blob of clay, for around ¥3000. This is then fired and shipped to your
home (for overseas deliveries you'll need to pay extra). The most
convenient place to try your hand at making pottery is the Bizen-yaki
Traditional Pottery Centre (tel 0869/64-1001), on the third floor of
Imbe Station, where workshops are held each weekend and on holidays.
If you have a car, it's worth exploring the area around Imbe and in
particular heading northeast to visit the Shizutani School (daily
9am-4.30pm; ¥300), 3km south of the Yoshinaga Station on the JR Sanyo
line. Secluded in a leafy vale, this elegant walled compound of
buildings was established by feudal lord Ikeda Mitsumasa in 1666 as a
school open to all, regardless of social position. The gateways and
large lecture hall are roofed with warm brown and grey Bizen-yaki tiles,
contrasting sharply with the green lawns and gently rounded stone walls.
Returning to Yoshinaga Station, you can catch occasional buses north to
the picturesque village of Hattoji , setting for the anti-war movie
Black Rain , by Imamura Shohei, and home to the oldest and perhaps
loveliest of Okayama's International Villas . The restored thatched-roof
village farmhouse, on the slopes of Mount Hattoji, has an open hearth
and a goemonburo - a traditional stone and metal bath - and all the
rooms have tatami and fusuma (sliding screens).
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