Tokoname is a city adjacent to Centrair, the gateway to Central Japan. While many visitors head straight to Nagoya, which is within easy reach, the city itself is an attraction famed for its pottery ware, made since the 12th century.
The tradition lives on to this day, though its prime peaked in the last two centuries. Tokoname ware is especially known for teapots, sake bottles, clay pipes, and lucky cat figurines. They now decorate the tourist trail called Tokoname Pottery Footpath, an ode to crockery culture.
Along the street called Manekineko-dori is a collection of lucky cats made by local artists, each themed after a specific type of good luck, such as health, money, safe travels and childbirth. Their designs, charming and quirky, range from typical wish-inviting poses to something a bit more bizarre, including a Superman-inspired cat and kittens suckling on human breasts.
Up on the hill, at the end of the street, is the centerpiece of the pottery village: a 12.5-foot-tall lucky cat nicknamed Tokonyan, a massive maneki-neko overlooking the town. Around it, there are many sloping alleys with walls covered with clay pipes and sake bottles, as well as old chimneys and kilns that once produced the famous Tokoname ware.
Know Before You Go
The trail starts near Tokoname Station, easy accessible from either Centrair or Nagoya. There are many signs leading to Tokonyan as well as other attractions of the city.
If you are an enthusiast of pottery, also consider visiting the city of Seto, a hour west of Nagoya, where there are several medieval kiln sites and a major ceramic museum.
