The air is so fresh that you may unconsciously begin taking in deeper breaths. Shigaraki is endowed with so many historical and cultural sites that it has been called an open-air museum.

  The history of the town goes back to 742 AD, the 14th year of Tenpyo in the middle of the Nara Period (710-794 AD), when the Emperor Shomu built his Shigaraki Palace there. Much later in the Tokugawa Era, the village was incorporated into the lands under the direct control of the Tokugawa Shogunate and a magistrate's office was established.

  The town of Shigaraki is known as one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan and its traditional techniques have been preserved through the centuries to our own time. The beauty of Shigaraki ware can be fully enjoyed at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park (Togei-no-Mori).

  The countryside around the Miho Museum is blessed with murmuring mountain streams like the Daido and Tashiro Rivers. After driving you can park on the side of a road and rest for a while listening to the soothing sounds of the river and the tinkling music of small waterfalls. This is just one of the many ways you can enjoy Shigaraki.