Experience the best of Tokoname

Tokoname has been a centre of ceramics for centuries, and its kilns are counted among Japan's Six Ancient Kilns, famed for red clay teapots. An old hillside quarter is threaded by a walking route, the Pottery Footpath, past kilns, workshops, brick chimneys and walls built from old pipes and bottles, and a giant lucky cat looks over the town.

Chubu Centrair International Airport stands on an artificial island just off the coast. Behind the shoreline, the Chita Peninsula has quiet bays, sandy beaches at Minamichita and ferries to small islands in Mikawa Bay, such as Himakajima, popular for fresh seafood. Nagoya, the regional city, is a short train ride north.

Tea from a Tokoname teapot goes with local sweets, and Chita sake and Mikawa Bay seafood fill the tables, along with Nagoya specialities such as miso katsu, pork cutlet in a dark soybean sauce, and eel on rice. Winters on this Pacific coast are mild.