Visiting the ancient kiln town of , Inbe, Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 2026

I had some time before starting my Shiro Oni residency and was able to get to Inbe, Bizen - one of Japan’s six ancient kiln towns. Its roots go back to the 5th century CE, and the pottery tradition it’s known for, Bizen yaki, is immediately recognisable for its rustic, reddish-brown surface - a combination of local iron-rich clay and the noborigama firing technique. It was a pleasure to meet Keiji Harada, who showed us around his family’s studio and noborigama climbing kiln. The kiln can host up to 4,000 pots and is only fired once or twice a year. I feel very lucky to have one of his cups now.

The wood stacking alone was impressive, and opposite the station sat an incredible shard mountain — thousands of ceramic shards that hadn’t survived the wood firing process, accumulated over years.