How Do You Fancy A Modern Day Treasure Hunt,

in a warehouse so big you need a bicycle to get around it?

the Kouraku Kiln was founded in Arita (Saga Prefecture, Japan) in 1865 and has been producing ceramics for the past 150 years, over that time the facility has accumulated a vast collection of pottery that has, for one reason or another, gone unsold, 

 there are so many items there that even seasoned factory employees do not know what is really there, so the production facility is now inviting visitors on a 'treasure hunt' to try and get rid of some of their stock,

here is how the treasure hunt works:

• Make your reservation by phone (they only allow 10 people per day)
• Show up at your designated time, select your course 5,000 yen or 10,000 yen (£31.50 or £63, $44.75 or $89.50 at today's rate) and pay
• Get a 30-min tour of the facility
• Begin your 90-min treasure hunt. You’ll be given a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a basket. You can take home everything you fit in your basket.

the more expensive course gives you access to a special section of decoratively painted ceramics but both allow you to take home as much as you can fit in your basket, once done you’ll get to wrap everything up in newspaper so that nothing breaks on your way home, it sounds great, they even have an English-speaking staff on hand to assist foreigners.

Kouraku Kiln
Tel: 090-8351-4121 or 0955-42-4121
2512 Maruo, Arita, Saga (Gmap)
A 5-min bus ride and a 3-min walk from Arita Station,

would I like to have a hunt there? you bet!