In Japanese, everyday pottery is called setomono, things from Seto, and that says everything about this town. Potters have worked here for more than a thousand years, using the fine clay of the surrounding hills, and in the Edo period Seto supplied ceramics to the whole country. The kilns still smoke, and the town is full of workshops, galleries and shops selling everything from rice bowls to garden ornaments.
The Kamagaki-no-komichi, a narrow lane in the old pottery district, is lined with walls built from broken kiln furniture and pottery shards, a charming relic of the old industry. The Seto-gura museum tells the story of the town's ceramics, with old kilns, workshops and a reconstructed station.
Seto is also the hometown of Fujii Sōta, the young shogi player who broke record after record and became a national hero. His success brought a wave of visitors and a boom in shogi across Japan.
The town lies in the hills north-east of Nagoya, and the roads around it wind through forests and valleys, with tight bends and little traffic. Sanage-yama, to the south, offers fine views over the Nagoya plain. Fuel and convenience stores are easy in town. The pottery shops are dangerous for anyone with soft luggage: bubble wrap is cheap, and a single handmade cup wrapped in a spare T-shirt has crossed many a mountain pass intact. In September the town holds a big ceramics festival, when the streets fill with stalls.