{"id":8296,"date":"2026-09-13T02:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8296"},"modified":"2026-09-13T02:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:00:43","slug":"visiting-fukui-can-teach-travelers-how-to-make-and-smash-japanese-kawara-tiles-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8296","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Fukui can teach travelers how to make, and smash, Japanese kawara tiles [Photos]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Echizen Seramika shares the techniques for both as part of its cool factory tour<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Factory tours<\/strong> are a fun sightseeing activity in Japan, and a lot of travelers like to pick out places that not only show you how their wares are made, but also give you a chance to sample them for yourself. Usually that means production centers for snack foods or beverages, but today it\u2019s taking us to a place where we won\u2019t be tasting what the company makes, but smashing it with our fists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Echizen Seramika<\/strong> is located in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture<\/strong>. Though the Seramika part of their name comes from \u201cceramic,\u201d their specialty isn\u2019t fancy pottery, but traditional Japanese earthenware roof tiles, called kawara in Japanese<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fukui gets heavy snow in winter and high humidity year-round, so homes in the prefecture need roof tiles that can stand up to both weight and wetness. This has been the case for generations, and at one point there were dozens of companies crafting Echizen kawara, as tiles made with local materials are called. There are now only two manufacturers left, so visiting Echizen Seramika is an opportunity to see the preservation of part of Japan\u2019s regional cultural heritage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tours are available by prior reservation and begin with a video presentation introducing the basic production process, after which visitors are led into the facility to see it for themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The first thing we were shown was the factory\u2019s massive clay pile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Picking up a handful, we gave it a squeeze, and the subtly moist earth clumped into a ball in our palm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, raw, unprocessed clay doesn\u2019t make for the sturdiest ceramics. Instead of using it as is, Echizen Seramika combs through the clay to find and remove large rocks or other objects that could prevent the clay from being molded into something with a uniform consistency and compromise the tile\u2019s strength<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once the clay has been suitably prepared, it\u2019s placed into molds and pressed into shape using this apparatus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next, the molded clay is given time to dry before a glaze is applied. Then all that\u2019s left to do is fire it in the kiln<\/strong>. If you\u2019ve ever taken a ceramics class at school or a local store, you might be imagining something that looks like a pretty big oven, but in Echizen Seramika\u2019s case, their tunnel-shaped kiln is 61 meters (200 feet) long!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After spending 24 hours in the kiln being fired at 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 degrees Fahrenheit)<\/strong>, the tiles are ready to be shipped to customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As you can probably guess, getting a kiln that big up to that temperature is no quick or simple task, so instead of doing it every day, Echizen Seramika plans things out so that it does one or two firing batches every month, so you might not be able to see it in action when you visit. What can be guaranteed, though, is that you\u2019ll be able to smash some tiles with your fists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now, while there\u2019s ordinarily an undeniable appeal to the idea of channeling your inner karate master and delivering some ceramic-splitting strikes, you might feel a little guilty after having just taken a look at the care and craftsmanship that goes into their production. Worry not, though, because for the tile-smashing part of the tour, Echizen Seramika uses factory seconds, tiles that have been judged not good enough to sell as building materials<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That, in turn, might have you feeling surprised at the supply of seconds the factory has, but this isn\u2019t a result of shoddy workmanship. Instead, it\u2019s Echizen Seramika\u2019s extremely high quality standards that keep them from shipping every tile they produce. In fact, their factory seconds are still so strong that they\u2019re difficult even for trained martial artists to break<\/strong>. Because of that, Echizen Seramika uses a diamond cutter to add an additional partial crack in the center of the factory seconds before visitors take a swing at them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unleashing her fists of fury\/factory fun on this day was our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As part of her tour reservation, Natsuno had requested a five-tile course. She could have elected to hit them all at once, but after talking things over with the tour guide, she instead opted to start with two tiles and work her way up to three at once for the finale.<\/p>\n

Okay, Natsuno, show us your strength!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oh, wow, Echizen Seramika wasn\u2019t kidding when it said its products were tough. After Natsuno\u2019s first attempt, the tiles remained uncracked. Thankfully, the guide stepped in here with some advice. Rather than punch straight down with her knuckles, he advised her to keep her thumb facing upward and pound down with an overhead swing\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026and that did the trick!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Invigorated and emboldened, Natsuno waited for her remaining three tiles to be put in place\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026and then she put them in their place with her newly acquired tile-smashing skills.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, reservations are required for the factory tour. Technically, the tour itself is free, but there is a fee of 500 yen (US$3.15) per tile you want to smash.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oh, and if you\u2019d rather make Echizen ceramics than break them, Echizen Seramika also offers miniature tile-making workshops<\/strong>, which also include a factory tour, for 3,000 yen. Reservations for both can be made through travel website Jalan here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Factory information<\/strong>
\nEchizen Seramika \/ \u8d8a\u524d\u30bb\u30e9\u30df\u30ab
\nAddress: Fukui-ken, Echizen-shi, Ikenokamicho 5-12
\n\u798f\u4e95\u770c\u8d8a\u524d\u5e02\u6c60\u30ce\u4e0a\u753a5-12
\nWebsite<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Echizen Seramika shares the techniques for both as part of its cool factory tour. Factory tours are a fun sightseeing activity in Japan, and a lot of travelers like to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}