Kibido

Top choice in Western Honshū

This kiln and gallery-shop is run by the Kimura family, one of the six original families granted official permission in the early 1600s to produce pottery in the Bizen region. It's possible to take a free tour of the traditional step-style nobori-gama kiln and see the current generation of Kimura artists at work. From opposite Imbe Station, walk up and to the left.

Free tours in English are available – they may be able to accommodate if you just drop in, but call or email in advance to avoid disappointment. Firings only happen once a year, so tours are unlikely to show a working kiln. The free information pamphlet has an excellent short explanation in English of the traditional process of producing Bizen ware – a good place to start a visit to Imbe.

Contact

Address

714 Imbe

Get In Touch

0869-64-4467

https://www.bizenyakikibido.com/

Suggest an edit to this attraction

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Kōraku-en
13.74 MILES
Kōraku-en draws the crowds with its reputation as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. It has expansive lawns broken up by ponds, teahouses…
Ritsurin-kōen
29.06 MILES
One of the most beautiful gardens in the country, Ritsurin-kōen dates from the mid-1600s and took more than a century to complete. Designed as a walking…
Art House Project
21.53 MILES
In Honmura, half a dozen traditional buildings have been turned over to contemporary artists to use as the setting for creative installations, often…
Ōhara Museum of Art
24.32 MILES
This is Kurashiki's premier museum, housing the predominantly Western art collection amassed by local textile magnate Ōhara Magosaburō (1880–1943), with…
Teshima Art Museum
17.73 MILES
Teshima's art 'museum' impresses for its architecture – a monumental concrete shell, forming a low teardrop-shaped dome on the hillside, designed by Tokyo…
Marukin Soy Sauce Historical Museum
20.83 MILES
Shōdo-shima was famous for its soybeans long before olives arrived, and several old soy-sauce companies are still in business here. Marukin has a small…
Shikoku-mura
27.51 MILES
About 500m north of Yashima station, Shikoku-mura is an excellent village museum that houses old buildings transported here from all over Shikoku and…
Yellow Pumpkin
22.35 MILES
This yellow pumpkin sculpture, by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, has become a symbol of Naoshima. It's perched on the end of a small jetty. Pumpkins are…

View more attractions

Nearby Western Honshū attractions

1. Tempogama

0.11 MILES

Tempogama is a large kiln ruin (c 1832), a short walk up a lane leading off Imbe's main street of shops and galleries. The kiln is fenced off for…

2. Okayama Prefectural Bizen Ceramics Art Museum

0.12 MILES

This ceramics-focused museum exhibits pieces from the Muromachi (1333–1568) and Momoyama (1568–1600) periods, plus work by several modern artists who have…

3. Friends of Bizen-yaki Ceramics Society

0.13 MILES

Gallery and shop on the 2nd floor of the Imbe station building, displaying a wide range of ceramics by contemporary potters.

4. Amatsu-jinja

0.17 MILES

A simple shrine in a leafy setting, decorated with Bizen-yaki (Bizen pottery) figures of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. To get there, exit Imbe…

5. Imbe-jinja

0.2 MILES

This understated, pretty wooden shrine sits among the trees and bamboo groves of the hills behind Imbe.

6. Shizutani Gakko

5.14 MILES

The first public school in Japan, Edo-era Shizutani Gakko has wood interiors with glossy lacquered floors and beautifully preserved Bizen-yaki roof tiles…

7. Inujima Seirensho Art Museum

12.57 MILES

The drawcard of little Inujima island is this copper refinery converted into an eco-building, displaying artist Yanagi Yukinori's surreal take on the…

8. Yumeji Art Museum

13.71 MILES

Prominent Taishō-era artist and poet Takehisa Yumeji (1884–1934) is particularly known for his bijin-ga (images of beautiful women), and various wistfully…

View more attractions

placement: superzone
path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "url": "japan/bizen/attractions/kibido/a/poi-sig/1509747/1324230",
  "destination": "Western-Honshū",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Japan",
  "region": "Western-Honshū",
  "position": "superzone"
}