Otani Ware Pottery

Otani ware is made in Naruto using a technique found almost nowhere else in Japan, where potters work the clay with their feet on a spinning platform while shaping enormous vessels that can stand over a meter tall. The pots, originally used for soy sauce and miso fermentation, have a distinctive rough texture and earthy glaze. The workshop and display area lets visitors watch the foot-throwing technique, examine finished pieces ranging from small cups to the giant storage crocks, and learn how this localized craft survived into the present.