Kids Web Japan

A wall in Seto that contains ceramic tools (Seto City Tourist Association)

Aichi Prefecture is located in central Japan. Seto City, which is home to 132,000 people, is about a 45-minute train ride from Nagoya, Aichi's prefectural capital. Seto is full of tradition. Many of its walls and fences are made from surplus crockery, and the streets are lined with Japanese-style houses.

Seto is famous for its ceramics, called Setomono, named after the city. Seto is home to many potteries. The ceramics industry began here 1,300 years ago when people discovered that the earth under the city was of excellent quality. There are eight museums dedicated to ceramics in the city, including the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum. And the two areas within the city that are most steeped in ceramic history are Akatsu and Shinanodai, where the elementary school is located. Pottery from the Jomon period (from about 10,000 to 2,300 years ago) has even been excavated from the Iwayado ruins in Shinanodai.

Setomono are dried in the sun before being baked. (Seto City Tourist Association)

The 2005 World Exposition will be held in Aichi in 2005, and Seto City is one of the venues for this event. Every effort is being made to protect the natural environment as work on the site progresses. Seto is a city where visitors can enjoy both the traditional and the modern.