The Kyushu Ceramic Museum
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum is located on a hill, a 10-minute walk away from Arita Station. Opened in 1980, the museum collects and exhibits approximately 30,000 ceramics from Kyushu and Okinawa. The museum has five exhibition rooms, where you can learn about the history of Arita ware, the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Shibata which consists of about 10,000 pieces of Arita ware from the Edo period, as well as old and modern ceramics from all over Kyushu.
In addition to the exhibits inside the museum, there are also three interesting things outside.
The first is the Karatsu ware plate “Large Karatsu Plate with Rice Ear Motif” installed next to the parking lot. This plate was created in July 1997 by volunteers who challenged to make a huge plate, and has a diameter of 220 cm, a height of 20 cm, and a weight of about 500 kg.
The second is the “White Porcelain Crowned Cassowary Fountain” installed in the inner courtyard of the museum. The fountain was donated in 1987 by the city of Meissen in Germany, a sister city of Arita Town. The prototype of the bird was made in 1731 by the Meissen potter Johann Joachim Kändle.
In 1985, a copy of it was made at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory “Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH” in Meissen and presented to Arita Town. At the feet of the bird is the mark of Meissen.
The third is a carillon with 25 porcelain bells hanging on the exterior wall of the museum. This was also created by the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory and presented to Arita Town.
Sixteen melodies have been selected, and these are played in rotation every hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can hear the distant melody throughout the town.
Please come to the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, where ceramics are displayed not only inside but also outside.
【Information】
・Opening hours: 9 a.m. ~ 5 p.m.
・Closed: Mondays, December 29th ~ January 3rd
・Admission fee: Free
(Ｒ.Ｈ.)
