[Yamagata/Okitama] Pottery Experience Inside a Private Bathroom!? A One-of-a-Kind Pottery Experience Overlooking the Scenic 'White Submerged Forest of Lake Shirakawa'!

The Yamagata Arcadia Tourism Bureau (Yamagata Prefecture), in cooperation with "Shirakawa Onsen Iide Shirakawaso" in the Nakatsugawa district of Iide Town, Yamagata Prefecture, will hold the third installment of the "Arcadia Pottery Retreat | Hot Spring Pottery Edition Overlooking the White Submerged Forest" on Saturday, April 4, 2026. This experience program allows participants to enjoy pottery making by setting up an electric potter's wheel inside a private bathroom.

In this plan, participants will stroll with a guide to view and meditate upon the spectacular "White Submerged Forest," which appears only during a limited time in early spring. Afterward, they will create pottery inside a bathroom enveloped in hot spring steam while gazing at the "White Submerged Forest," and finally immerse themselves in the afterglow with a private bath. It delivers a special retreat experience seamlessly connecting a walk, pottery making, and bathing.

What is the Arcadia Pottery Retreat?

The Okitama region of Yamagata Prefecture. During the Meiji era, the British travel writer Isabella Bird, who traveled this area, praised it as the "Arcadia (Utopia) of the Orient."

A gentle flow of time not found in cities. A life in harmony with nature, managed while staying close to the changing seasons. Quiet and rich "time" and "scenery" still breathe there today.

In spring, surrounded by the murmur of melting snow. In summer, listening to the sound of leaves swaying in the shade, amidst the sound of waterfalls and cool breezes. In autumn, viewing a sea of clouds from a mountain peak surrounded by fruitful fields and autumn foliage. In winter, feeling the warmth of hands and the softness of clay in the silence of the snow.

The "Arcadia Pottery Retreat" is an experience program that brings a "potter's wheel and clay" into such scenery, allowing you to immerse yourself purely in facing the earth.

Listen to the sound of the wind, the chirping of birds, and the murmur of the river. Simply place yourself in nature, entrust your heart to the rotation of the wheel, face the clay, and quietly face yourself. It might become a time to unravel your heart and regain yourself.

A "healing journey" born from the encounter between the nature of this land and the time of pottery making. The "Arcadia Pottery Retreat" delivers such a unique experience.