In this series, New York’s top bartender Kenta Goto explores the landmarks of Oita Prefecture, the birthplace of honkaku barley shochu iichiko. Discovering the land where iichiko was born brings a deeper appreciation to every sip. His first stop is Usa Jingu, a shrine with a 1,300-year history at its main hall. In Japan, alcohol has long been regarded as a vital bridge between the divine and humanity. Together with his family, Goto paid his respects in the shrine’s solemn grounds. Usa, where this shrine stands, is also home to Sanwa Shurui, the brewery that produces iichiko. Next, he visited Onta Pottery Village, a place where the craft has been passed down from parent to child for more than 300 years. With his keen interest in traditional craftsmanship, Goto also found inspiration in Onta ware as vessels for cocktails.
⋆ The opening photo shows the Minami Churo Gate, which surrounds the main hall of Usa Jingu. Once used as the main entrance for imperial envoys —known as “Chokushi”—it is also called the Chokushi Gate. (Photo courtesy of Usa Jingu)
Photography: Koichi Mitsui
Composition & Video: Contentsbrain
Places Visited by Kenta Goto
The shaded area shows Kyushu, where Oita Prefecture is located.
On this trip, Goto visited Usa Jingu in Usa City and Onta Pottery Village in Hita City, both in Oita Prefecture, Kyushu.
<Experience the Oita Journey on Video>
Join Kenta Goto as he visits Usa Jingu, one of Japan’s most historic and revered shrines, and Onta Pottery Village, where craftsmanship has been passed down for generations. This short film captures the serene atmosphere of the shrine grounds and the remarkable techniques preserved at Onta kilns.
Watch the video of Goto’s visit to Usa Jingu ⇓
Watch the video of Goto’s visit to Onta Pottery Village ⇓
For people in Japan, shrines are familiar places woven into everyday life. But what exactly is a “shrine”? It is a sacred site of Shinto, where deities are enshrined—gods of nature, ancestors, and more. Visitors come to pray for a bountiful harvest, for safety and peace in their households, and for the well-being of their communities.
Across Japan, there are about 100,000 Shinto-affiliated religious corporations, of which roughly 80,000 are organized under the Jinja Honcho⋆1. On this occasion, the Goto family visited Usa Jingu, the head shrine of the nation’s more than 40,000 Hachiman shrines. Hachiman shrines enshrine the spirit of Emperor Ojin, revered as Hachiman Okami, the great deity Hachiman. Once worshipped as the protector of warriors, today Hachiman is venerated as a guardian of agriculture and local communities.
⋆1Jinja Honcho： A religious corporation that oversees about 80,000 shrines across Japan, responsible for the propagation of Shrine Shinto, guidance of member shrines, and training of Shinto priests.
The otorii (grand shrine gate) marking the entrance to the grounds of Usa Jingu.
At the base of the brilliant vermilion otorii (grand shrine gate), Goto, together with his wife and son, paused to bow before stepping onto the gravel path that led deeper into the grounds. Their first stop was the temizusha, a pavilion where worshippers purify their hands and mouth before approaching the shrine. Standing before the basin filled with water, they used a ladle to rinse the left hand, then the right, then cupped water in the left hand to cleanse the mouth —without touching the ladle directly to it. Finally, they tilted the ladle to let water run down its handle, and returned it face down for the next visitor.
Side by side with his wife and son, Goto guided them through the ritual: “Hold the ladle in your right hand and pour water over your left. Now switch—hold it in your left hand and pour over your right. Good. Now switch back to your right hand...”
At the temizusha, visitors use a ladle to scoop water from the basin to purify their hands and mouth.
As Goto and his family continued along the path, a small hill appeared on the left, with stone steps climbing up its slope. Towering trees, each more than half a meter (about 1.6 feet) in diameter, lined both sides. Just before the steps, something caught Goto’s eye—a display of honoshu, or sake offerings.
Honoshu refers to alcohol dedicated to the gods as an expression of gratitude and prayer. Also called omiki, these offerings symbolize a ritual link between the divine and humanity, often given in thanks or in hope of a bountiful harvest. The standard form is Japanese sake packed in straw-wrapped casks known as komodaru. But here in Kyushu, a land of shochu, the display included not only the sake casks but also large 18-liter bottles of honkaku shochu. For Goto, who grew up on Japan’s main island of Honshu, the sight was strikingly new.
Sake casks (komodaru) of locally brewed sake from Oita (top row) and large bottles of honkaku shochu dedicated at Usa Jingu.
Sanwa Shurui, the maker of iichiko, traces its roots to a sake brewery and continues to produce the sake Wakabotan to this day. The photo shows stacked Wakabotan casks.
Large bottles of Oita Mugi Shochu® Nishi no Hoshi (left) and honkaku barley shochu iichiko, both dedicated by Sanwa Shurui.
Passing the display of alcohol offerings, the family walked through a torii gate and began climbing the steep stone steps. Usa Jingu has two main precincts: the Upper Shrine (Jogu) atop this hill, and the Lower Shrine (Gegu) on the opposite side. At the top of the stairs, a striking vermilion structure came into view—the Minami Churo Gate (pictured at the beginning). Beyond it stands the main hall of the Upper Shrine. The main hall is composed of three sanctuaries: the First Sanctuary, dedicated to Hachiman Okami; the Second Sanctuary, dedicated to Himeno Okami, a local female deity of Usa; and the Third Sanctuary, dedicated to Empress Jingu, the mother of Hachiman Okami. Together, they form an M-shaped roofline, a hallmark of the Hachiman-zukuri style of architecture. This distinctive design has been designated a National Treasure of Japan.
Worship up close to the main hall.
The shrine grounds also host weddings and festivals. In this sense, shrines resemble Christian churches as gathering places for life’s milestones. But unlike Christianity, Shinto has no single deity or scripture; instead, it treats nature itself as sacred. This reverence for the natural world is a defining feature of shrines.
Do you know the proper etiquette when offering a prayer at a shrine? The basic form is called ni-rei ni-hakushu ichi-rei—two bows, two claps, and one final bow. Worshippers bow twice, bring their hands together at chest height and clap twice, then finish with a deep bow. The claps are said to announce one’s presence to the deities, purify the spirit, and convey gratitude.
Kenta Goto praying alongside his son. The basic etiquette at a shrine is bow–clap–bow.
At Usa Jingu, however, the traditional practice is slightly different: ni-rei yon-hakushu ichi-rei—two bows, four claps, and one bow. Instead of clapping twice, worshippers clap four times. The reason is not explained in the shrine’s guidebooks, but it may be a way of showing special reverence to the head shrine of all Hachiman shrines.
“(To his son) Come stand next to Dad. First, we bow—two times. Now clap four times. Put your hands together and make your prayer,” Goto instructed, standing side by side with his son as they completed the ritual.
The expansive grounds of the shrine—spanning some 500,000 square meters (about 124 acres)—are filled with trees thick with foliage, ponds brimming with water, and examples of shrine architecture that are both majestic and splendid. After receiving a blessing in the prayer hall, Goto reflected, “I feel as though my mind and body have been purified.” One can only wonder what he prayed for.
Usa Jingu
In Japan, there are said to be about 80,000 shrines affiliated with the Jinja Honcho, and among them, more than 40,000 are Hachiman shrines dedicated to Hachiman Okami (the deified Emperor Ojin). Usa Jingu is the head shrine of them all. According to tradition, Hachiman Okami first appeared in Usa in 571, and in 725 the First Sanctuary was built. Taking that as its beginning, Usa Jingu marked its 1,300th anniversary in 2025. The land of Usa was also an early entry point for Buddhism from mainland China via the Korean Peninsula. Here, mountain worship rooted in the local landscape combined with the worship of Hachiman Okami, giving rise to shinbutsu-shugo—the blending of Shinto and Buddhism that is unique to Japan. Usa Jingu became one of the earliest examples of this syncretic tradition. Today, the shrine continues to welcome more than 1.5 million visitors each year.
Address: 2859 Minami-Usa, Usa City, Oita Prefecture
After completing his visit to Usa Jingu, Goto set out for his next destination, Onta Pottery Village, home to Onta ware, a traditional pottery of Oita Prefecture said to have been founded around 1705 in the mid-Edo period.
Onta ware spread locally as everyday pottery.
(Photo courtesy of Mingei no Mise Bungo)
Japan has long been a land of pottery. From the 12th to 13th centuries (the Kamakura period), kilns began to appear across the country, producing distinctive wares rooted in the local soil and traditions. Among those founded by the late 16th century (the Azuchi-Momoyama period) are the famous Bizen, Shigaraki, and Seto styles. In the early 17th century (the early Edo period), porcelain-making began in Arita, Kyushu, with Imari ware gaining international acclaim through exports to Europe via the Dutch East India Company. At the same time, everyday wares for common people—simple, regionally distinctive pottery—were made across Japan. Onta ware, the focus of this visit, is one such humble yet enduring tradition.
Driving 20 to 30 minutes from central Hita City, the road gradually narrows. Just as the road begins to feel like it might not lead anywhere, a small mountain village comes into view, the home of Onta ware. Today, nine kilns continue to operate here, preserving the techniques passed down unchanged since the Edo period.
Onta Pottery Village—step inside and you’ll hear the sound of the karausu.
As Goto stepped out of the car and began walking through the quiet village, he heard an unfamiliar sound mingling with the murmur of a stream—gagon, goton. It was the rhythmic pounding of the karausu, the traditional water-powered mortar used to prepare the clay for Onta ware.
Guided by Fumihito Kuroki of the Kuroki Fumihito Kiln, one of the nine kilns in the village, he headed toward a small wooden hut standing right beside the stream. Watching the wooden buckets rise and fall at the hut’s side, he quickened his pace, whispering, “Amazing.”
Inside, three karausu were at work. Thick wooden pestles moved up and down, their motion reminiscent of a seesaw in a park. Clods of earth collected from the nearby hills were placed into the mortars, where the heavy pestles crushed them into workable clay.
“Wow, that’s powerful,” Goto remarked.
“They often break down, actually,” Kuroki replied.
A karausu powered by the stream that runs through the village, endlessly pounding the clay with heavy wooden pestles.
The driving force behind the heavy wooden pestles is the flow of the stream. Water collects in wooden buckets, and as the weight increases, it lifts the pestle by leverage. Once the bucket reaches a certain point, the water spills out all at once and the pestle comes crashing down. This cycle repeats endlessly. The sounds—the rush of water spilling from the bucket, the heavy thud of clay being struck, the creak of wood rubbing against wood—echo through the village day and night. The steady rhythm of the karausu has even been selected by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment as one of the “100 Soundscapes of Japan to Be Preserved.”
Inside the hut, wooden pestles and mortars crush lumps of earth collected from the hills into fine clay. (Photo: Sakamoto Kiln’s karausu)
Outside the hut, water from the stream fills a hollowed wooden bucket at the end of the lever. When the bucket becomes heavy, it lifts the pestle; once the water spills, the pestle comes crashing down.
(Photo: Sakamoto Kiln’s karausu)
Clay crushed by the karausu is filtered in water tanks, then dried in the sun. On the left is Onta potter Fumihito Kuroki.
A few minutes’ walk from the karausu huts brought Goto to the Kuroki Fumihito Kiln. Seated at the potter’s wheel was Fumihito’s eldest son, Kazusa, who joined the family kiln after graduating from the local high school three years ago. Since then, he has been devoting himself daily to the craft as a young potter.
For shaping the vessels, he uses a kick wheel—a potter’s wheel spun by foot—rather than an electric one. With his right foot he kicks to turn the wheel counterclockwise. The wheel is heavy, so once set in motion it keeps spinning for quite some time.
“Now my son will demonstrate a technique called tobikanna. It only takes a moment. Listen closely—you’ll hear a buzzing sound like a bee in flight. That’s tobikanna,” explained Fumihito Kuroki.
Goto then observed a demonstration of the tobikanna technique, in which fine, continuous grooves are carved. “That’s incredible,” he said, captivated by the technique.
Kenta Goto observing Kazusa Kuroki demonstrate the tobikanna technique
Tobikanna, a technique using a flexible metal blade to create continuous fine grooves.
One of the charms of Onta ware lies in its simple decorative patterns. There are three main techniques. The first is tobikanna, in which a flexible metal blade is pressed against the surface while the wheel spins, leaving a series of fine, continuous grooves. The spacing of the lines changes depending on the speed of the wheel. The second is kushigaki, which uses a special comb to draw wave-like curves. The third is uchihakeme: while the clay body is still semi-wet, a layer of white slip is brushed on, and before it sets, a brush is swept across to create contrasts of light and dark. These techniques were introduced in the Taisho period (1910s), and today they are recognized as the hallmark patterns of Onta ware.
Here are three examples showcasing the decorative techniques of Onta ware.
Main Techniques of Onta Ware
Plate decorated with the tobikanna technique.
(Photo courtesy of Mingei no Mise Bungo)
Cup featuring wave patterns created with the kushigaki technique.
(Photo courtesy of Mingei no Mise Bungo)
Plate decorated with the uchihakeme technique.
（Photo courtesy of Mingei no Mise Bungo)
Once the shaping on the wheel is finished, the pieces are dried in the sun until firm, then comes the firing. In Onta ware, firing is done not with electricity or gas but in a traditional wood-fired climbing kiln (noborigama).⋆2 While some potters use individual kilns, at the Kuroki Fumihito Kiln visited on this trip, they rely on a shared kiln managed collectively by several families. This kiln has a firebox at the base, and from there, eight connected chambers, also called “bags,” ascend along the slope.
⋆2 Climbing kiln (noborigama)： A kiln built into a slope with multiple chambers arranged in a stepped sequence. Firewood is burned in the firebox at the lower end, and the flames and heat flow upward through the chambers. This design allows for efficient firing of multiple chambers at once. The flow of the flames, the variations in temperature, and the scattering of ash all contribute to the natural colors and textures of the finished pottery.
Diagram of a Climbing Kiln
Firewood is burned in the firebox, and the flames and heat flow upward into the firing chambers above.
Plates left to dry in the sun before firing, seen in Onta Pottery Village.
The climbing kiln shared by several potters in Onta Pottery Village. Eight firing chambers line the slope.
Kenta Goto taking a look at the interior of a climbing kiln chamber.
Kenta Goto taking a look at the interior of a climbing kiln chamber.
“This is the shared kiln I use. Inside here, we fire the pieces made on the wheel, and once they’re done, the pottery is complete. Firing everything takes about 50 hours. Would you like to step inside one of the chambers? Please, go ahead,” explained Fumihito Kuroki.
Bending slightly to enter, Goto shone his smartphone light around the firing chamber, visibly impressed. One of the charms of Onta ware is the gentle texture created by the clay itself and the way it is fired. These pieces are meant for everyday use—serving rice or side dishes—with a thickness that gives them a sense of warmth when held. It was clear that Goto had also taken a liking to this pottery.
Exhibition space adjoining the workshop of the Kuroki Fumihito Kiln, one of the nine kilns in Onta Pottery Village.
Onta Ware
A traditional pottery from Sarayama in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, Onta ware is said to have been founded about 300 years ago, in the mid-Edo period, around 1705. The name comes from the local place name “Onta.” Originally little known and used mainly as practical household ware, Onta ware began attracting attention in 1931 when the art critic Muneyoshi Yanagi visited and praised its traditional techniques and rustic style. Later, in 1954 and 1964, the British potter Bernard Leach stayed in the village, working with the local potters, which helped bring Onta ware to prominence both in Japan and overseas. Today, there are nine active kilns in the village. All of them ship their wares under the shared brand of Onta ware. In 1995, Onta ware was designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan. Onta Pottery Village
Address: Sarayama, Motoemachi, Hita City, Oita Prefecture
“I felt both body and mind were purified after visiting Usa Jingu. I was glad I could come with my family this time. In America, there’s nothing like this—so it was a truly rare and valuable experience. I was born and raised in Japan, and my father was the type who never missed a chance to visit shrines and temples. Going with him as a child, together with my family, those memories all came back to me. And then we visited Onta Pottery Village—a wonderful place. I had known about Onta ware before, but now I like it even more. The texture of those vessels somehow matches the taste of iichiko Saiten.”
“At my bars in New York, many of our guests have either been to Japan, are planning to go, or have even lived there. And I think in Japan as well, opportunities to interact with international guests are increasing. In those moments, bartenders and bar owners should see themselves as ambassadors of Japanese culture, always striving to explain Japan properly to their guests.
Whether we’re in Japan, Europe, or America, if each of us works on raising the level of how we share and explain things, the overall standard will rise. That would benefit both our guests and us as bartenders alike.”
PROFILE：Kenta Goto
Owner-bartender at Bar Goto and Bar Goto Niban
Born and raised in Tokyo and now based in New York, bartender Kenta Goto is the owner of two New York City cocktail bars. After a seven-year tenure at Pegu Club, Kenta opened his first solo bar, Bar Goto, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2015, followed in 2020 by Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn.
At his two bars, Kenta practices his own unique brand of hospitality dually influenced by his upbringing in Japan and his twenty-plus years bartending in New York City. Bar Goto is recognized as one of the first Japanese-American crossovers—infusing Japanese ingredients and flavors into classic cocktails, and creating an experience for guests that is at the same time familiar and pushes them to try something new.
Bar Goto has been recognized with two James Beard Award semifinalist nods for Outstanding Bar Program and Bon Appétit magazine’s Bar of the Year award, among other accolades. Kenta was named U.S. Bartender of the Year at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in 2011. His cocktail book, The Goto Bartender's Guide, will be published in fall 2026.