Picture: Head of the almost four meters high, lacquer-covered float.
When Korean potters were forcefully brought to Japan in the 1590s it marked the beginning of a new dawn for Japanese ceramics. The potters settled in the town of Karatsu on the southern island of Kyushu, locked-in in a gated village with moats. The Nakazato Taroemon kiln in Karatsu is run by descendants of those very first potters. The city of Karatsu, a 90 minutes train ride from Fukuoka, has all the ingredients for a good tourist destination: sea-side location, over 500 years of history, a small castle and the wonderful annual float festival. But looking for the history of pottery is hard as no operating kilns can be found and shops are all over town. Visiting the city on a sunny day left me with the feeling that town's inhabitants quickly left the city and might return anytime soon.
However, the true attraction of Karatsu are the magnificent and oversized floats. Once a year in early November during a huge festival fourteen floats get pulled down the streets by young men in traditional attire. For more information click here: http://www.karatsu-kankou.jp/english3.html
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