The annual Arita Ceramic Bazaar in Arita got off to a rainy start here Sunday with over 600 stalls displaying various works born of clay.
Scores of ceramics fans with gloves and rucksacks braved the rain with Golden Week tourists to browse through 4 km of stalls looking for bargains on Arita's famed ceramics.
The ceramics on sale in the fair, which runs until May 5, vary in price from less than 100 yen to more than 10 million yen. Merchants at the center of the fairgrounds are offering free rice porridge to visitors, who get to keep the bowls. There is also a booth where people can try their hand at the pottery wheel or at illustrating various ceramic works.
The organizer of the fair, the Arita Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it expects the event to draw about 950,000 people and 3 billion yen in sales.
The fair can be accessed through the prefectural road between Arita and Kamiarita stations on the JR Sasebo line.