The Iga potteries are concentrated in the Marubashira area the northern parts of Iga. As a representing pottery, Nagatanien has a 16-connected climbing kiln (in operation from1832 to 1970s), which, as well as the houses and office (Taishokan), are designated as a cultural assets of the country.
Iga ware is characterized both by a pot earth bearable at high temperatures and a firewood of red pine whose ash in a kiln acts as a glaze. We saw an example of the old Iga ware vase with a raw texture and naturally melt green glass on it. Such vases were favored by the tea masteres of 16-17 centuries.
Once the 16-connected climbing kiln runs, a 500 units of red pine bundle were needed for a week to keep a high temperature at the top. Today, a small-scale 4-conneced climbing kiln is running using a red pine firewood in Nagatanien, while the major product is the Donabe pot, as we saw in their showroom, which is burnt with a burnable gas.

The Iga potteries are concentrated in the Marubashira area the northern parts of Iga. As a representing pottery, Nagatanien has a 16-connected climbing kiln (in operation from1832 to 1970s), which, as well as the houses and office (Taishokan), are designated as a cultural assets of the country.
Iga ware is characterized both by a pot earth bearable at high temperatures and red pine firewoods whose ash acts as a glaze during burining. We saw an example of the old Iga ware vase with a raw texture and naturally melt green glass on it. Such vases were favored by the tea masteres of 16-17 centuries.
Once the 16-connected climbing kiln runs, a 500 units of red pine bundle were needed for a week to keep a high temperature at the top. Today, a small-scale 4-conneced climbing kiln is running using a red pine firewood in Nagatanien, while the major product is the Donabe pot, as we saw in their showroom, which is burnt with a burnable gas.

Iga Sake - Wakaebis brewery

Each of the seven Iga Sake breweries has a history of over 100 years. Characteristic habits of producing Iga Sake are a small-scale production obsessed with hand-working, the cultivation of the pesticide-free rice Yamada-Nishiki in their own fields and use of the Sake rice named Kamino-ho developed by the Mie prefecture. Wakaebis brewery that we visited was first brewed in 1853 and is still keeping the old-style production method, though the tanks turned into stainless steel thanks to the breed improvements of Koji and Yeasts.
During the Sake brewing process, degree of rice polishing greatly affects the quality of the final product because the use of the core part as close as the center of a rice particle brings pure taste. For the highest quality type of Sake, Dai Gynjo, the polishing degree should be as high as 50 percent. The waste rice powder, which is still a high quality rice, can be used as a feedstuff of the Iga cow.
Unlike other breweries buying polished rice from rice milling plants, Wakaebis owns its dedicated rice milling facilities as we saw at their factory and perform careful slow polishing keeping the rice temperature as low as possible to avoid cracks.

Renovation of old townhouse Machiya

The Iga local government approves high quality Iga products as IGAMONO every year. Nishi Machiya Kakan is a renovated Machiya for a multi-purpose space of showrooms, restaurants and shops complex. As we saw, the showroom is mainly for displaying IGAMONO products.