Shigaraki, Shiga

Encyclopedia : S : SH : SHI : Shigaraki, Shiga

Shigaraki (信楽町; -cho) is a town located in Kōka District, Shiga, Japan. It is an ancient centre for pottery making. Works produced here are known as Shigaraki-yaki. Many local potters use wood fired anagama kilns. Many tanuki statues are also made here.

The location served as Imperial capital for a few months in 745, before a forest fire destroyed the palace. The Court then moved to Heijo-kyō.

As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 14,035 and a density of 85.40 persons per km². The total area is 164.34 km².

The town was merged into Koka city in October 1, 2004.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.