Go treasure hunting in an Arita porcelain warehouse for just 5000 yen

kouraku kiln treasure hunt 1

The Kouraku Kiln was founded in Arita (Saga Prefecture, Japan) in 1865 and has been producing ceramics for the past 150 years. Over that time the facility has accumulated a vast collection of pottery that has, for one reason or another, gone unsold. The warehouse is so vast that some workers use a bicycle to get from one side to the other. And they’ll be the first to admit that even they don’t really know what’s in there. The production facility is now inviting visitors on a “treasure hunt” to try and get rid of some of their stock.

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Here’s how the treasure hunt works:

  • Make your reservation by phone (they only allow 10 people per day)
  • Show up at your designated time, select your course (5,000 yen or 10,000 yen) and pay
  • Get a 30-min tour of the facility
  • Begin your 90-min treasure hunt. You’ll be given a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a basket. You can take home everything you fit in your basket.

th_cThe more expensive course gives you access to a special section of decoratively painted ceramics but both allow you to take home as much as you can fit in your basket. Once done you’ll get to wrap everything up in newspaper so that nothing breaks on your way home.

It sounds like a really fun excursion! They even have an English-speaking staff on hand to assist foreigners.

Kouraku Kiln
Tel: 090-8351-4121 or 0955-42-4121
2512 Maruo, Arita, Saga (Gmap)
A 5-min bus ride and a 3-min walk from Arita Station

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6 Comments

  1. Should visit this place

  2. Thank you all for the interest in our products and the “Treasure Hunting”. Also would like to invite to the workshop on Arita`s traditional porcelain techniques. For those who wish to stay in the city for more time to relax or visit other sites, we offer accommodation in our Guest House. Our Facebook is : Happy Lucky Site – Arita. Art in Residence Program runs since 2014. Studio coordinator can speak English, Spanish, Chinese (Putonghua) Portuguese and Japanese.

  3. How long will this go for?

  4. This is Pimenta, I am the Coordinator of this “Hunting”, well we still have material untill end of the year I think. As Arita will have a Porcelain Festival next April 29th until May 5th and another one end of October, we dont know how it will be next year. Thanks for the interest!

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