Kyoto has hosted an annual pottery festival for about 100 years, dating back to the Taisho era. After a brief pause during the pandemic, the tradition was revived in 2023 under a new name, the Gojo Wakamiya Pottery Festival.
In 2026, the festival took place from 7th to 10th August along Gojo Street, an area locally known as Kyoto’s “Pottery Street”, with the nearby Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine often called the “Pottery Shrine.” This year marked the fourth edition since the festival’s revival, and it was bigger than ever, with more than 140 stalls taking part.
While the festival originally focused mainly on Kyoto-based ceramic artists, the renewed event has welcomed potters from across Japan. This year, pottery from 19 prefectures was featured, including Shigarakiyaki from Shiga, Minoyaki from Gifu, and Bizenyaki from Okayama. The established pottery shops along Gojo Street also joined the festival, offering generous discounts on their pottery items. At the festival, visitors could browse a wide variety of teacups, mugs, and bowls in countless colors and designs. The selection of teapots for loose-leaf tea, however, was somewhat more limited.
Despite the intense summer heat, the festival bustled with visitors who happily browsed the stalls to find their next favorite pottery piece while listening to taiko drumming drifting from the Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine.