Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO: Stay and Make Ceramics at Tomimoto Kenkichi's Home
Sleep in a restored artist's home, dine on Nara ingredients and book a hands-on ceramic decorating or pottery session in rural Ando.
Verified site photographs are being prepared.Discover Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO: Stay and Make Ceramics at Tomimoto Kenkichi's Home
Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO is a small inn, restaurant and craft-experience venue in Ando, southeast of Horyuji. The property is the former home of Tomimoto Kenkichi, a major modern Japanese ceramic artist born in 1886 in what is now Ando Town. The operator restored the former Tomimoto Kenkichi Memorial Museum as a two-room experiential inn in 2017. The site is presented as a place to encounter the artist's home and aesthetic through rooms, gardens, ceramics and food; it is not currently described as a public museum with unrestricted entry. Reserve ahead: both meals and activities are by booking, and spontaneous walk-in access is not promised.
Understand Tomimoto's connection to Ando
Tomimoto Kenkichi was born in Ando in 1886 and became one of Japan's most influential modern ceramic artists. The Nara Prefecture tourism biography traces his independent path through raku ware, white porcelain, underglaze blue, overglaze colour and other techniques; it notes that he built a raku kiln in his Ando garden in 1913. Tomimoto later became a holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property and received the Order of Culture. Ubusuna no Sato reuses the artist's family home and former memorial-museum site, but its current operator describes a lodging, restaurant and activity venue, so visitors should reserve a stay, meal or activity rather than assume a separate museum entrance.
Stay in rooms shaped by the artist's life
The property has two rooms. Nisshin combines a twin room and Japanese-style room for two to four guests across 63 m², with a semi-open-air bath; the room retains Tomimoto's study and looks toward a Japanese garden. Chikurin Getsuya is a 139 m² maisonette for two to eight guests, with twin beds, a semi-double bed, Japanese room and semi-open-air bath. Its name evokes a bamboo grove at night and the relationship between Tomimoto and the British potter Bernard Leach. Rates depend on date and plan; the live reservation system provides the current quote. The operator publishes a lodging cancellation schedule of free through eight days before, 30% at seven days, 70% at three days and 100% the day before or day of arrival; confirm current terms during booking.
Book a meal around local ingredients
The restaurant, Gofuju, serves Japanese kaiseki built around Nara ingredients, including the operator's featured Mahoroba red cattle from Uda. Current operator information lists lunch from 11:00 to 14:30, last entry 13:00, and dinner from 17:00, last entry 19:00. It seats up to 22 guests and requires a reservation at least three days ahead; the phone line is open 11:00–17:00. Published lunch examples range from ¥5,500 seasonal shokado to ¥16,500 celebration kaiseki, while dinner examples range from ¥9,680 for a red-cattle hot-pot course to ¥30,000 for a chef's special kaiseki. These are menu examples, not fixed daily availability; ingredients and seasonal plans change. The operator says Tuesday is its regular closing day, while the prefectural tourism profile lists both Tuesday and Wednesday—call to verify the applicable date.
Try a pottery or decorating session
The operator currently lists ceramic decorating from 11:00 to 17:00 at ¥3,000, with a reservation required by the previous day. Guests decorate a prepared bisque plate or cup with glaze and coloured underglaze. A separate hand-building pottery session is listed on selected dates at 11:00, 13:00 or 15:00 for ¥3,850; contact the facility to check whether a session is available. Both can be paired with a meal. The moss-ball workshop is explicitly marked as currently suspended on the operator's activity page, so do not plan around it unless the venue posts a reopening notice.
Reach the farmhouse and respect its private spaces
The address is 1442 Higashiando, Ando Town. From JR Horyuji Station, the operator's access page describes a bus to Higashiando of about eight minutes followed by a five-minute walk; from Kintetsu Hibarata Station, the listed bus ride is about 25 minutes plus a five-minute walk. Check the current community-bus and Nara Kotsu schedules and final return before travelling. By car, the operator estimates about six minutes from Horyuji interchange or five minutes from Yamato Mahoroba Smart interchange; five standard-car spaces are listed, with free Ando Town tourism parking as overflow. The house, rooms and garden are private property; photography permission is not blanket permission for commercial use. Ask before photographing interiors, workshops, staff or other guests.
What to look for
A two-room inn in the former home and studio setting of ceramic artist Tomimoto Kenkichi
Bookable ceramic decoration and hand-building pottery sessions
Kaiseki restaurant with Nara ingredients, including Mahoroba red cattle
Photo notes
No general commercial photography or filming permission is published. Ask before photographing the former study, rooms, garden, ceramic work, staff or other guests. The house is a working lodging and restaurant, not an unrestricted museum; do not enter private areas or use copied property images without permission.
Make a day of it
Explore guides close to this map point, then check the actual route before travelling. Distances below are straight lines, not walking distances or travel times; map points may not be entrances.
Sources & editorial status
Original MyNara draft based on the linked sources. Sources reviewed 20 October 2026. Opening arrangements, prices and offers may change; use the operator's current information before travelling.
- Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO — property history, room capacity, operating days and reservations
- Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO — rooms and cancellation terms
- Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO — current ceramic workshop status, times and prices
- Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO — restaurant menu examples, booking rules and seasonal products
- Ubusuna no Sato TOMIMOTO — current bus and driving route
- Nara Prefecture — Tomimoto Kenkichi's biography and his 1913 Ando kiln
- Nara Prefecture — operator profile and conflicting weekly closure listing
- Official Nara Travel Guide — directory identity E02088