Arita is a fine spot for porcelain pots -- and cups, vases, buttons, wall sockets and even denture-holders. Need a cartwheel-sized ashtray (useful at Japanese banquets), or a 1.8-meter-high urn to brighten up a castle somewhere? You'll find them in all shapes, sizes and colors in this peaceful town, nestled in a narrow valley in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. Arita transforms into a noisy market every Golden Week (April 29-May 5), when hordes of porcelain enthusiasts descend on its giant ceramics fair.

Arita's porcelain products have a 400-year history, the oldest in Japan. The term Arita ware often refers to the town's oldest styles: Ko-Imari, Nabeshima and Kakiemon ware, some of Japan's most valued brands today. Their story begins after Arita's lord Nabeshima Naoshige returned in 1598 from Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, bringing a skilled craftsman, Ri Sampei, to kick-start porcelain production. Japan's pottery history dates back as far as 12,000 years, but technically advanced, beautiful porcelain wares were long imported from China and Korea, not manufactured here.

None of Japan's attempts to master porcelain would have been possible if not for the discovery, within the Nabeshima domain (modern-day Nagasaki and Saga prefectures), of plentiful, high-quality kaolin clay. Nabeshima artisans soon learned to produce beautiful porcelain with blue-and-white underglazing, later featuring the enamel overglazing that allowed for more complex designs. By the mid-1600s Arita ware was snapped up around Japan, taken to Dutch colonies in Indonesia and prized in European palaces, via Nagasaki's trade with Holland.

Some say Arita's porcelain is too gaudy. Traditionally, it is an intense blaze of green, red, yellow and blue, often with gold highlights. Its dense patterns, whirling dragons and luscious fruit designs set the wares far apart from softer, natural styles such as Hagi. But Arita ware was produced for noble families at a time when homes were made with natural wood and bamboo. Decorations were sparse, and every dish must have glowed like sunshine from the calm, dark interiors, as they do at Arita's older show-rooms. Recently, possibly because Japanese homes have become crammed with things like floral curtains and overflowing cabinets, such opulence has lost its popularity.

Arita's craftspeople and shops have adapted somewhat to changing tastes.

"Young people prefer simple pieces," says Kazuhiko Tanaka of Tanaka Tokiten store. "Not all artisans want to make these, and Arita's craftspeople tend to divide into two groups: the traditionalists, and those who modernize their designs," he explains. Tanaka represents over 100 artisans, and items range from ultra-light, sculptural dishes to traditional vases.

Contemporary stores such as Keizan-gama offer simplified Arita wares from their kiln, and these are proving extremely popular. The shop also exhibits regal Arita pieces upstairs in their light, bright cafe.

You can easily walk around most of Arita in a day. Take the seven-minute connection to Kami-Arita Station (trips the opposite way are infrequent), then amble your way back to JR Arita Station, past about 250 porcelain and other shops lining the 4-km main road.

Blue-and-white porcelain milestones with scale maps of the town point out (in excellent English) what you're looking at, and sights you may otherwise miss. There's the hillside Tozan Shrine with its unusual porcelain torii gate, many historical wooden and whitewashed brick buildings, a group of six roadside Jizo statues and more. Off the main street, a clear stream twists and jumps past stone embankments and flower-filled gardens.

Arita has several kilns (look for the square brick chimneys) in and out of town, some offering pottery courses or simple tours. It's amazing to watch the artisans pick up newly fired cups in one hand and deftly paint tiny, flying patterns with the other.

There are also more museums than you could shake a stick at. Recommended are the very comprehensive Kyushu Ceramic Museum and the Arita Ceramic Museum, the latter a tiny Meiji Era stone building with a fine, antique porcelain collection. Skip the big showrooms out of town -- their gargantuan displays quickly take all the fun out of browsing.

Prices range enormously, from the less expensive mass-produced pieces (design elements are stenciled for uniformity, and sometimes photo-stenciled -- you'll see the dots up close), to hand-painted works where design elements are less even and more individual. The more items you look at, the more you'll set your own definitions of what's special and what isn't. A lot of cheaper ware isn't badly made: It's just not exclusive. You'll soon spot Arita's cheaper stores, milling with people and packed with crate upon crate of popular designs.

During the fair, prices often drop 20 to 40 percent, especially toward evening or if items are samples, old stock or blemished. Serious porcelain freaks (the ones panting from the weight of ceramic booty in their backpacks) run their hands lightly over items to check for minor flaws, wearing cotton gloves to avoid scratching.

Over 800,000 visitors are expected to attend this year's fair. Roads leading to Arita are nowhere near capable of handling this traffic, so arrive and leave super-early, or just reserve a seat on the train. Take a packed lunch, too -- Arita's few eateries will be teeming with people. Perhaps the fair isn't everybody's scene. Go one weekend, and you'll still get the pots -- without going potty!