At many Kyushu tourist sites and stores you can sometimes find examples of Arita and Imari porcelain, although choices can be limited or expensive. You can look in the department stores in Tenjin, in Fukuoka. Usually on one of the upper floors there is a pottery section where several types and kilns are represented, usually having better quality items. You can even find some Arita ware in grocery stores, as the quality goes from mass produced up to hand crafted art.
However, if you want to see where it started, and the experience of seeing or making it yourself, you should visit one of the potter's villages in Imari or Arita.
One of the better places, because the kilns are still found in old buildings, and the streets are narrow and fun to wander, is in Okawachiyama. Easiest access would be from JR Imari Station (30 minutes from Karatsu, another famous pottery place) or Kami-Imari station, although there isn't as much info at that one. There's a large Porcelain factory complex on the east side of town, and to the south of that is the "Big River Inside Mountain" (Okawachiyama) village. It is known as the "Village of Secret Kilns," because it's got mountains on 3 sides. There are still some hillside "stepped" kilns (also called climbing kilns) that they only fire up once or twice per year, because they use so much wood. There has to be at least 30 different potteries in this village, as well as the Imari-Arita traditional crafts center that you would pass as you enter the village. tel 0955-22-6333
For information on Arita, you can find it at:
http://www.arita.or.jp/index_e.htmlYou can also find information at:
http://www.e-yakimono.net/guide/Porcelain/pottery made in Imari is now also known as "Arita," although sometimes the Imari made is called Nabeshima ware. In general, during the feudal period the Imari Nabeshima porcelain was produced for the shogun and imperial court, and porcelain made in Arita was exported through Imari. So Imari is both pottery made around Imari and pottery made in Arita shipped through Imari, but now it's all called "Arita," since that's where the original kiln was.
My favorite kind is Nabeshima-Seiji, which has a crackled light green glaze, although the type with red, blue, and green colors on a white background is more famous.
The village is about 6 km from Imari station. The bus station is just out the north entrance of the station if you don't want to take a taxi. There is a lot of tourist info there also.
If you get to this village, keep an eye out for the unknown graves of all the Korean potters who brought porcelain art to Japan. Hideyoshi Toyotomi, during Japan's invasion of Korea in the 16th century, packed up all the potters and shipped them to Japan, where they worked for the feudal lords, Lord Nabeshima of Saga was one. Hideyoshi's invasion is also called the "Chawan senso," or "Teacup War," as that was the main thing that Japan gained out of it.
