A Walking Tour of Saga City, Saga, Japan

Even though I lived in Kyushu for four years, I only ever spent time in Saga once. It was for the International Balloon Fiesta, which I decided to attend with a friend on a whim. Our lack of planning meant we left without seeing much more than the festival grounds. So, when I recently read about a porcelain town called Arita not too far from the city, I decided to go back and discover more of Kyushu’s smallest prefecture. And I’m so glad I did—Saga in spring is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in Japan.

Saga City, the capital of Saga Prefecture, was a castle town ruled by the Nabeshima Clan during the Edo Period (1603–1868). Close to Nagasaki, the Saga domain was charged with defending the only port open for trading at the time. This gave it unique access to Western technology, and it became a centre of modernization. The first reverbatory furnaces were built to produce weapons, which played a crucial part in the industrial development of Japan. Around the same time, kaolin stone was discovered, which kicked off a long history of porcelain production in the prefecture. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).