Arita (saga)

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Arita-chō
有 田 町
Arita
Geographical location in Japan
Arita (Saga) (Japan)
Red pog.svg
Region : Kyushu
Prefecture : saga
Coordinates : 33 ° 13 '  N , 129 ° 51'  E Coordinates: 33 ° 12 '38 "  N , 129 ° 50' 57"  E
Basic data
Surface: 65.80 km²
Residents : 19,267
(October 1, 2019)
Population density : 293 inhabitants per km²
Community key : 41401-8
town hall
Address : Arita Town Hall
Otsu - 2202 Tachibe
Arita- chō , Nishimatsuura-gun
Saga  849-4153
Website URL: www.town.arita.lg.jp
Location of Aritas in Saga Prefecture
Location of Aritas in the prefecture

Arita ( Japanese 有 田 町 , - chō ) is a city in Saga prefecture on the island of Kyūshū , Japan and belongs to the district of Nishimatsuura . Arita is known for the Arita porcelain produced there and the place of origin of porcelain production in Japan since 1616.

geography

Arita is located in the west of Saga Prefecture on the border with Nagasaki Prefecture . The Arita-kawa flows through Arita from south to north, where it flows into the sea at Imari . The highest peaks are the Kunimi mountain range , the summit of which is 777 m on the Nagasaki ( Sasebo ) side and the Kurokami mountain at 518 m.

climate

Arita is located in the warm-temperate climate zone . The average annual temperature is 14.1 ° C and the average annual rainfall is 2765 mm.

Neighboring cities and communities

  • Saga Prefecture:
    • Imari in the north
    • Takeo in the east
  • Nagasaki Prefecture:
    • Sasebo in the west
    • Hasami in the south

history

Arita was created on March 1, 2006 by merging with the neighboring community Nishi-Arita ( 西 有 田 町 , -chō ).

  • 1889: Introduction of modern community services in the course of the Meiji Restoration . Arita-machi and the three Mura (villages) are located in today's Arita area : Shin-mura ( 新村 ), Magarikawa ( 曲 川村 , -mura ) and Ōyama ( 大 山村 , -mura ).
  • 1896: Shin-mura is renamed Arita-mura ( 有 田村 , -mura ).
  • 1947: Arita-mura is renamed Machi and Higashi-Arita-machi ( 東 有 田 町 ).
  • 1954: Arita-machi and Higashi-Arita merge to become Arita-machi.
  • 1955: Magarikawa and Ōyama merge to form the village of Nishi-Arita ( 西 有 田村 , -mura ).
  • 1965: Nishi-Arita is named Chō Nishi-Arita ( 西 有 田 町 , -chō ).
  • 2006: Arita and Nishi-Arita merge to become Arita.

economy

The ceramic and porcelain industry and agriculture are particularly important economically.

science and education

  • Schools:
    • 4 primary schools
    • 2 middle schools
    • Arita Technical High School
  • Technical school:
    • Arita College of Ceramics (Saga Kenritsu Arita Yōgyō Daigakkō)
  • Research Institute:
    • Saga Ceramics Research Laboratory (Saga-ken Yōgyō Gijutsu Sentā)

Culture and sights

Museums

There are a variety of museums in Arita, mainly dealing with porcelain and the history of the ceramic industry.

Copy of the Dresden Zwinger in Arita
  • A scaled-down copy of part of the Dresden Zwinger was built in Arita during the GDR era , with the well-known Kronentor . The building is used as a museum for porcelain from the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods . There is u. a. to see the 1.82 m high vase that was shown at the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873 .
  • Saga Kenritsu Kyūshū Tōji Bunka-kan ( 佐賀 県 立 九州 陶磁 文化館 ): The Museum of Ceramic Culture Kyūshū of Saga Prefecture is the largest of its kind in southern Japan and serves the collection, preservation and exhibition of important historical, artistic and industrial ceramic products and materials. The museum is also used as a research and teaching facility.
  • History and Folklore Museum Arita: Exhibits include historical documents, old tools that were used to make porcelain, fragments from old kilns from the 400-year history of porcelain production in Arita.
  • Ceramic Museum Arita: The museum, which is housed in an old warehouse for Arita porcelain, shows documents on the history of porcelain production in Arita and old porcelain from the province of Hizen in Ko-Imari , Kakiemon and Nabeshima style . The main attraction is a plate with a diameter of 60 cm in blue and white from the end of the Edo period (1603–1868), which shows the workers in the Sarayama district making porcelain. In 1982 the plate was designated an important cultural asset of the Saga Prefecture.
  • Arita-kan: In the Arita-kan an old saga from the area around Arita is shown in a puppet theater in the style of the Kabuki theater. The dolls ( Karakuri ningyō ) are all made of porcelain and are moved by built-in electronics. In addition, themed exhibitions are shown on various occasions.
  • In addition, almost every major manufacturer has a show hall or gallery.

Attractions

  • Izumiyama Quarry: The quarry is considered to be the birthplace of porcelain manufacturing in Japan and has been declared a National Historic Monument. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Korean potters was Ri San Pei there kaolin and introduced for the first time in Japan porcelain ago. Nowadays it is no longer worth dismantling; What remains is an impressive landscape, a testimony to the 400-year history of porcelain production in Arita, in which almost the entire mountain was removed.
  • Tōzan-jinja ( 陶 山 神社 ): The shrine was built around 1658 in honor of Tennō Ōjin and Ri San Peis, first under the name Sueyama-jinja , the Kun reading of the character. Soon, however, the on reading , by which the shrine is known today, became popular. A special feature and unique in Japan is the fact that both the torii and the Komainu guard figures and the large water jugs in the entrance area are made of porcelain. On the grounds of the shrine there is a stone monument in honor of Ri San Pei, which was erected in 1917 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the porcelain production. Every year on May 4th the Tōsosai ( 陶 祖 祭 ) takes place there in memory of Ri San Pei , a festival in memory of the founder of the porcelain manufacture.
  • Rice terrace at Take: The rice terrace fields at Take are among the 100 most beautiful rice terraces in Japan.

Celebrations and events

  • Arita porcelain Hina-Matsuri (February 4 to mid-March): Various manufacturers, galleries and shops exhibit Hina dolls made from porcelain. One of the attractions is the 2.7 m high, 7-tier porcelain doll set.
  • Arita Tōkiichi ( 有 田 陶器 市 ) (April 29th to May 5th): The porcelain market takes place every year during Golden Week and is the largest event of its kind in Japan with an average of around one million visitors. Around 700 stalls offer ceramic goods over a distance of almost 4 km. The first porcelain market took place in 1896. Due to some interruptions (including during the Second World War), the 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2003.
  • Arita Sarayama Matsuri ( 有 田 皿 山 ま つ り ) (October 16 and 17): The Arita Sarayama Matsuri is the autumn festival of Aritas. (In northern Kyushu , these festivals are also called kunchi or with the courtesy prefix O-kunchi . Famous kunchi are, for example, Nagasaki-kunchi and Karatsu kunchi .) On October 16, in the morning of Tōzan-jinja, dances are performed and then a portable shrine ( Mikoshi ) carried through the city from there. On October 17th there will be a parade along the main street, during which the plate dance will be danced. Similar to the castanets, two small porcelain plates are struck against each other in each hand to a song sung by the enka singer Hibari Misora ( 美 空 ひ ば り ), who is known throughout Japan . In the evenings, dance competitions are presented on the fairground.

Culinary specialties

Godōfu ( ご ど う ふ ), in Kanji ( 呉 豆腐 ) is a tofu that is made using kuzu as a coagulant (instead of the commonly used nigari ). It is often eaten with a sesame dressing.

Arita porcelain

Arita porcelain is not a registered trademark like Meissen porcelain , so it is difficult to narrow down the term precisely. Mainly it refers to porcelain made in Arita. Historically, however, it also includes the porcelain ware made in the area around Arita.

The term Imari porcelain

During the Edo period , the porcelain produced in the province of Hizen - mainly in Arita and the surrounding area - was shipped from the port of Imaris within all of Japan under the name Hizen porcelain . At the beginning of the first half of the 17th century, the name of the port of export Imaris, under which it is mainly known abroad , prevailed in the centers of Japan at that time, Kyōto , Osaka and Edo .

Current situation

The number of factories in Arita was around 100 as of 2012 and had almost halved within 20 years. The porcelain industry in Arita has fallen into a deep crisis in recent years due to the bad situation on the sales market and tough price competition, especially due to cheap competition from China.

Famous manufactories and potters

traffic

  • Street
    • Highway: Nishi-Kyushu Highway
    • National roads: 35, 202, 498
  • railroad

Town twinning

The following international partnerships exist with Arita:

  • GermanyGermanyCity of Meissen (since February 9, 1979), sister city
  • China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of ChinaJingdezhen City (since August 28, 1996)
  • Korea SouthSouth Korea Korean Ceramics Culture Association (since August 28, 1996)

At least in the 1960s there was still a town partnership with the Californian Alameda , which was entered into on July 10, 1958 and which still has Arita as a sister town today.

literature

  • Cornelia Reiher: Local Identity and Rural Revitalization. The Japanese ceramic city of Arita and the limits of globalization. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8376-2596-7 .

Web links

Commons : Arita  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The white gold of Japan in FAZ of December 7, 2012, page 21
  2. ^ School website. In: 佐賀 県 立 有 田 窯業 大 学校 . Archived from the original on November 11, 2007 ; Retrieved August 28, 2016 (Japanese). The college is a technical school (Semmon Gakkō) under Section 82, Paragraph 2 of the Japanese Schools and Education Act
  3. ↑ Website of the research facility (Japanese)
  4. ↑ Website Nōson Kankyō Seibi Center (Japanese)
  5. ↑ 平 成 18 年 有 田 町 統計 書 . (PDF; 951kB) Arita 2007 Statistical Yearbook. In: City of Arita. Retrieved August 28, 2016 (Japanese).
  6. ^ Carsten Germis: Arita porcelain factories in the struggle for survival. In: www.nzz.ch. December 4, 2012, accessed August 30, 2018 .
  7. ↑ 有 田 町 総 合計 画 書 ・ 後期 基本 計画 . (PDF; 5.42MB) Arita, 2013, p. 76 , accessed on August 28, 2016 (Japanese).
  8. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (ed.): わ が 外交 の 近況 ("Our current diplomatic situation") . 4th edition. June 1960, 2.2.2 北 米 関係 (“North America Relations”), 日 米 都市 提携 の 現 況 (“Current US-Japanese City Cooperation”) - ( Online ).
  9. ^ Sister Cities. City of Alameda, accessed May 15, 2014 .