Imaemon Kiln and Museum

Imaemon kiln in Arita has been producing Nabeshima ware, considered the finest porcelain made in Edo-period Japan, since the clan presented it exclusively as gifts to the shogun. The current showroom building dates to 1830, rebuilt after the Great Bunsei Fire, and the Imaemon family still lives there. Reddish stains on the first-floor roof tiles trace generations of craftsmen cleaning brushes out of the windows. The adjacent Imaemon Museum of Ceramic Antiques spans three floors, covering early Ko-Imari pieces collected by Imaemon XIII, 18th-century export and shogunal gift ware, kiln excavation artifacts, and contemporary work by the current family head, Imaemon XIV.