History and Folklore Museum of Arita

Near the Izumiyama quarry where Arita's porcelain industry began in the early 1600s, this museum traces the full production history of the town's famous ware. Displays include tools used during the Edo period, wooden government licenses that regulated each step of the firing process, and items showing how that strict division of labor eventually broke down after the feudal system ended. A wartime section documents how metal shortages during World War II pushed kilns to make porcelain post boxes, bottles, coins, and grenades. The adjoining Arita Excavated Ceramic Museum, added in 1983, displays over 1,000 pottery sherds from historical kiln sites.