Gojo Wakamiya Pottery Festival

This large-scale open-air fair in one of Kyoto's oldest pottery districts offers a wide range of ceramics, from cheap plates and sake cups to expensive antique vases. Established dealers and emerging artists alike can be found, so whether your taste runs traditional or avant-garde, there will be something for you.

Finding bargains is quite easy, too: Many shops sell their surplus stock or goods with small imperfections (often only visible to the trained eye) for very reasonable prices. This is the place to be for any ceramic lover!

Kyoto has been a center of the ceramic industry for hundreds of years. As the origin of kaiseki and tea ceremony and with a thriving sake industry in the city, there was always high demand for ceramics created to fit dishes, seasons, and special occasions.

Numerous potters settled in the area around Gojozaka and established there kilns there, producing the famous Kiyomizuware (named after nearby Kiyomizudera), but also other styles of ceramics. While most kilns are now located outside of the city, many artists and dealers remained in the area.

This is the birth place of the Gojozaka Pottery Festival. Started in 1920 in the Obon season, it became one of Japan's largest pottery fairs with some 400 booths and more than 400,000 visitors each year - until the pandemic. The festival started again in 2024 under a slightly different name and is slowly building up steam to reach its former size. For now, the stalls center around Miyawaki Hachiman-gu Shrine near the north-eastern end of Gojo street.