🗺️ Kasama Craft Hills笠間工芸の丘

Kasama Craft Hill is a complex facility located within Kasama Art Park, featuring a hands-on experience workshop for Kasama pottery, an art museum for displaying and selling works, and a café where you can taste desserts made from local ingredients. In the facility's "FUREAI Workshop," guided by instructors, you can experience pottery making for tableware or utensils. There are three types of experience courses available: "ROKURO," where you shape clay using a potter's wheel; "TEHINERI," where you mold clay by hand for a warm, tactile feel; and "ETSUKE," where you paint patterns on pottery. Each experience takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The simpler "ETSUKE" course is also suitable for children to try. Additionally, the "Handmade Art Space" showcases works from approximately 250 ceramic artists, which are also available for direct purchase. Kasama pottery itself is quite durable, making it ideal for everyday use items. With a freely open creative style, items such as colorful tableware and small decorative pieces that add the finishing touch to interior decor are popular souvenirs. Surrounded by nature, the "Coffee Salon" offers desserts made from Kasama chestnuts, which are the most produced in Japan, as well as hamburgers made from the local specialty "Minna Pork," all of which are highly recommended. Enjoy a delightful feast of food and art using Kasama pottery tableware.

You can experience handmade art pieces created by fusing different materials of glass, known as "FUSING." The pottery experience "ROKURO" and "TEHINERI" allows you to freely choose glazes. You can select your favorite from 12 colors to create your work. Nearby, there is the "Ibaraki Prefectural Ceramic Art Museum," where you can learn more about Kasama ware. In the café, you can taste the famous local dessert, "GRUYERES" cake.