The Setomono Matsuri
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Japan's Biggest Ceramics, Pottery, and Porcelain Street-market Event
For centuries, the city of Seto in Aichi Prefecture has been famed as a production center for pottery and porcelain of superior quality. The small city is the site of a huge annual festival devoted to pottery, porcelain, and other ceramics that takes place the third Saturday and Sunday in September.
I got there by taking a train on the Meitetsu Seto Line from Sakaemachi Station – conveniently located in Sakae's underground shopping area – to Owari Seto Station.
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Depending on the train, the ride takes less than 40 minutes, and as soon as you exit the station, you're at the festival!
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This year, the 88th Setomono Matsuri, featured some 200 merchants, kilns, and food vendors lining the streets around the station and flanking the Seto River.
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Very close by the station was an information tent that offered maps of the city in English and other languages, so I picked one up.
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I also received a fan that bore a simple map highlighting the main attractions of the Setomono Matsuri.
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On the back was a glossary of words in the local dialect, which would make a fun souvenir for someone who's studying Japanese.
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The festivities officially kick off at 9:00 am each day, continuing until eight at night. Along with all the vendors hawking their wares, the festival includes musical performances, roving mascot characters, and handicraft activities for kids and adults.
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I took my time exploring the stalls. The variety of different kinds of pieces on display was amazing!
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The event also spills over from the festival proper into the covered Ginza-dori shopping arcade a block north of the river, where many of the permanent shops and restaurants get into the act with festival menu selections or sales at festival prices.
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This stand in the arcade sells takoyaki – savory grilled dumplings with a hunk of octopus meat inside – but also on hand for the festival was Chicago Kaminarimon, an entertainer of local renown who specializes in rakugo – traditional comic storytelling. Chicago is also a cartoonist, and today at the takoyaki stand he was drawing caricatures for festival-goers. I didn't pass up the opportunity to have him do one of me. I also got a packet of freshly made takoyaki to snack on as I wandered on.
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Some of the arcade shops had set up games and other fun things for children to do. This place was letting kids catch crayfish.
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On reaching the end of the arcade, I doubled back along one of the festival roads and kept exploring the wares on display.
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Just off the east end of the festival route, near a Shinto shrine called Fukagawa Jinja, was a small hilltop plaza with food stalls, activity tents, and a stage featuring a succession of performances by musical acts.
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One of these acts was Cool-X, a vocal and dance unit of five young men that's based in Nagoya. I stopped to watch some of their performance.
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I also stepped onto the grounds of the nearby shrine, which turned out to be an oasis of tranquility amid all the dynamic bustle of the festival.
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By then, I was feeling a bit peckish. The takoyaki had been fine, but now I was ready for something a bit more substantial! The festival guide showed what looked like a food court at the northwest end of the event area, so that's where I headed.
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At the food court I found several tents selling local food from Seto and elsewhere in the region. This one offered inari-zushi, a specialty of Toyokawa, another city in Aichi Prefecture.
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This tent had torimeshi – chicken and rice – from Takahama. They also sold ten-musu, which is an onigiri rice ball containing a deep-fried shrimp and is a Nagoya speciality.
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And here I found Seto-style yakisoba -- stir-fried noodles. I got in line and got me some.
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It made for a fitting and delicious end to a fun-filled day!
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- 12-1 Yamawaki-Town, Seto-City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
- 0561-85-2730
- https://www.aichi-now.jp/en/spots/detail/65/