Where: Tochigi City
When: June 17- July 3
Obviously this is in Tochigi City. If you are driving you head (from JR Ustunomiya Station) go down the main street from the west side (starbucks side) of the station. When you hit 119/2/Sakura-dori, take a left. It will take you there. If you are going to park in Tochigi city you should park at Ohira-san prefectural park. The cost is 300yen.
I recommend, however, taking the train from Tobu-Utsunomiya station though (3rd floor of the Tobu department store) up the street about 15 minutes from the west side of the JR Utsu station again. If you hop on a train there and ride all the way, it will drop you in Tochigi city.
The city is easy to walk around and all the hydrangeas should be down the main street and up to the main shrine. There will be flowers on either side leading up to the Ohira-san shrine. During the festival there will be musical perfomances including koto and erhu concerts. There is also the winners of a photography contest that will be displayed during that time.
It is a nice town to walk around usually a quiet, pleasant continence and many traditional souvenir goods around. Be sure to stop in some of the local sweets shops and buy some special ice cream manju if it's warm.
If you decide to go look and see I hope to see you there next weekend!
If you'd like more information about this event, please feel free to contact the Tochigi city Tourism Association at 028-225-2356
Thanks again to the Tochigi International Center for this information.
http://tia21.or.jp
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Saturday, June 11, 2011
Mashiko's climbing kilns and pottery festival.
It's been a while, earthquake and all. One of the places that I found hits closest to home with me is all those in Mashiko.
For anyone who doesn't know, Mashiko is a town about an hour to fourty five minutes away from Utsunomiya by car. It is known for it's pottery which is also known nation-wide. Mashiko pottery is made using a wide variety of ways and comes in many colors. The kilns they've been using are the famed climbing kilns or noborigama.
Dome after dome crest hills waiting to be fired.. or they used to.
The earthquake cracked the foundation of the kilns and now entire sections of them lie in piles of bricks and rubble. Talking to shop owners lends to stories of whole shelves of produce raining down. As well as the kilns falling to bits in the ensuing aftershocks. Walking into kiln houses as far as it is safe looking at the rock piles and the dust streaming through the air; You really can't help but feel the loss of these treasures. These kilns are so old that the knowledge of how to make them again just like they were.. was lost some time ago. In the same vein it would take a lot of capital to attempt to raise them again in a new incarnation.
Even with the broken treasures, Mashiko continues on like a forceful train. They still had their bi-annual pottery festival last month. The main street was filled with tents as well as every side street and parking lot. Every tent sported different style pottery and if are savvy enough you can start to pick out your favorite artists just based on the work they do. Most of the restaurants usually serve their food on locally produced wares too, so that is a good way to see some.
If you aren't used to being in town the prices can seem random and extreme. Plates can cost anywhere from 500yen to 30000yen depending on the artist and where you buy it. I know there is a particular set of cups I'm keen on but they run around 6000yen a piece, so the two cups and the wine bottle cost around 25000yen all together which is a bit out of my range.
The variety of colors and styles that Mashiko offers it's patrons differs from store to store, as do the styles, sizes, colors, motifs, and almost everything else. There is a type of pottery here to suite every taste.
More pictures of examples to come since I'm displeased with the offerings of the image search I did for Mahiko-yaki. The cups and bowls are really just too varied, I hope I'll be able to give you a bit of a view of some of the different styles available, from traditional to very modern.
Mashiko also has a famous indigo dye shop, which still does things in the old tradition in town. That is always worth seeing. More on that to come too. There is really so much to this small town I look forward to showing it to you bit by bit.
For anyone who doesn't know, Mashiko is a town about an hour to fourty five minutes away from Utsunomiya by car. It is known for it's pottery which is also known nation-wide. Mashiko pottery is made using a wide variety of ways and comes in many colors. The kilns they've been using are the famed climbing kilns or noborigama.
Dome after dome crest hills waiting to be fired.. or they used to.
The earthquake cracked the foundation of the kilns and now entire sections of them lie in piles of bricks and rubble. Talking to shop owners lends to stories of whole shelves of produce raining down. As well as the kilns falling to bits in the ensuing aftershocks. Walking into kiln houses as far as it is safe looking at the rock piles and the dust streaming through the air; You really can't help but feel the loss of these treasures. These kilns are so old that the knowledge of how to make them again just like they were.. was lost some time ago. In the same vein it would take a lot of capital to attempt to raise them again in a new incarnation.
Even with the broken treasures, Mashiko continues on like a forceful train. They still had their bi-annual pottery festival last month. The main street was filled with tents as well as every side street and parking lot. Every tent sported different style pottery and if are savvy enough you can start to pick out your favorite artists just based on the work they do. Most of the restaurants usually serve their food on locally produced wares too, so that is a good way to see some.
If you aren't used to being in town the prices can seem random and extreme. Plates can cost anywhere from 500yen to 30000yen depending on the artist and where you buy it. I know there is a particular set of cups I'm keen on but they run around 6000yen a piece, so the two cups and the wine bottle cost around 25000yen all together which is a bit out of my range.
The variety of colors and styles that Mashiko offers it's patrons differs from store to store, as do the styles, sizes, colors, motifs, and almost everything else. There is a type of pottery here to suite every taste.
More pictures of examples to come since I'm displeased with the offerings of the image search I did for Mahiko-yaki. The cups and bowls are really just too varied, I hope I'll be able to give you a bit of a view of some of the different styles available, from traditional to very modern.
Mashiko also has a famous indigo dye shop, which still does things in the old tradition in town. That is always worth seeing. More on that to come too. There is really so much to this small town I look forward to showing it to you bit by bit.
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