Seto Pottery Festival (とうきのおまつり)

On September 8th, my host family (my hostmother, her daughter, and her daughter’s two children aged 4 and 6) took me to a pottery festival in Seto. Seto is a medium sized town north of where I live in Miyoshi. It took about 45 minutes to drive there. Most of the pottery at the festival was handmade and came from the local pottery industry. Local pottery makers and food vendors set up hundreds of stalls all along the main street of Seto and the surrounding side streets.

Ceramic sandals ( zori- ぞり )

Many of the pottery pieces featured cats, which are considered a symbol of luck throughout Japan. I will explain a bit more about the importance of cats to pottery later. Much of the pottery at the festival featured different designs or characteristics that make that pottery unique. The Japanese that attended the festival appeared to mainly buy pottery that fit the different characteristics of members of their family rather than pottery that goes in specific sets. Most of the dining ware of my own host family follows this pattern. At the festival, my okaasan (hostmother- お母さん) bought me a rice bowl to use at meals. Additionally, most of the pottery at the festival was competitively priced with most pieces having prices ranging from 100 yen to 2000yen (about $1.20-$24).

Leaf shaped pottery

I loved the nature designs on these sets of plates.

A winter design

One of the many shrines that pops up everywhere in Japan, this one was located between buildings along the main street that the festival was held on.

The main street in Seto ran along a stream over which several bridges had been built. Each bridge featured ceramic plaques or other forms of pottery built into the bridge construction. Other areas throughout the town also displayed pottery publically.

Ceramic plates included in the bridge design depicting agricultural work

Another ceramic plate

Maneki-neko are cat statues that are symbols of fortune in much of Japan. The Maneki-neko museum contained hundreds of these cat statues, including many that were several decades old. The museum also included a shop where many more cat related items were sold.

Ceramic maneki-neko (まねきねこ)

Bobble-head cats in the maneki-neko shop

More maneki-neko (まねきねこ)

 

Within the museum itself, most of the maneki-neko were kept locked in glass cases.

A giant blow-up maneki-neko outside the museum.

After visiting the maneki-neko museum, we went to eat lunch at one of the multitude of small restaurants on an indoor bazaar. The restaurant featured traditional Japanese tables which are built low to the ground. You sit on the floor on cushions. I found that this was one of the most painful parts of being in Japan, because even with the cushions, it very easy for your legs to fall asleep and become numb especially when sitting seiza (せいざ) with your legs tucked under you. We ate yakisoba at the bazaar, but in Seto I also had yakitako (やきたこ), which is octopus wrapped in a ball of fried vegetables along with rice baked on to a stick and dipped in miso sauce.

Lamps hanging in the bazaar area

 

Eating yakisoba（やきそば）with my okaasan, Taeko.

Yakisoba is a fried dish made with soba, buckwheat noodles.

 

Yuta (the grandson) eating yakisoba

 

Mayu (the granddaughter) eating yakisoba

After eating at the restaurant in the bazaar we walked back through the festival area and then returned home with a brief stop at a cafe. Here are a few more pictures of pottery from the festival.

 

I really liked the dragon on this piece of pottery. It was one of several in a glass display.

 

I picked this picture because of the extraordinary latticework on the pottery.

 

This piece reminded me of autumn colors back home, which unfortunately (or fortunately perhaps) do not come until November here.

An example of the variety of designs found at a single stall.

 

My favorite piece from Seto. It reminds me of Starry Night.

Inuyama- IES Orientation

This blog is meant to cover the time from September 1^st 2012 through December 20^th 2012. During this time I will be studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan through the IES Abroad organization. While in Japan I hope to share many pictures and anecdotes with my friends a family back in the United States and elsewhere.

I arrived in Japan on September 1^st after leaving Denver International Airport the morning of the previous day. I flew into Tokyo-Narita airport at around 4pm Japanese time which is about 7am back in Colorado. On the descent to Narita, several things struck me as I first view Japan. First, the landscape was much greener than I was used to, especially compared to Western Colorado. Secondly, the Japanese roads and canal networks have a very crisp appearance, as if they were designed in an ideal manner rather than laid in the haphazard nature so common to America. A third thing that surprised me was the large number of golf courses that our plane flew over. In a short space of time, I counted at least six different golf courses.

Once I landed at Narita, I had to proceed through Customs and Immigration, both of which went far easier than I expected. After that came a long period of waiting as I had to catch a connecting flight to Nagoya. Surprisingly, all of the domestic bound flights were called by the attendants in both Japanese and English and throughout the airport as well as other major travel locations I have been in Japan, there is a surprising amount of English written on signs and in manuals. For that, I have been extremely grateful, considering my limited knowledge of Japanese. By the time I took off from Narita Airport, it was dark and raining off and on. As we flew out of Tokyo, the city shown a pure white, compared to the dull yellow glow of Denver or Grand Junction. This purity was masked by a bank of clouds that swooped in from the west near ground level. Golden lightning also flashed out of the cloud bank.

By the time I landed in Nagoya, I was on the verge of falling to sleep where I stood. I found my orientation group (IES Abroad) led by two Japanese volunteers. We took the Meitetsu train from Chubu International Airport into the heart of Nagoya and stayed at Daiichi Fuji hotel. That night we also met our Program Coordinator, Masae, and Director of Student Services, Satoshi, before turning in.

A picture of myself at the Daiichi Fuji Hotel near Nagoya Station.

Western-style toilet with Japanese additions トイレThe buttons along the side control the bidet and spray that are used to clean the nether regions. The seat also controls the inflow of cold water into the toilet bowl so it was quite a shock to me when I went to brush my teeth, sat on the toilet seat, and jumped off as the water rushed in.

Sunday morning, we received our first orientation at Nagoya station. There we were introduced to using the Nagoya transportation system which includes subways (chikatetsu), various train lines, bullet trains to other major cities (shinkansen), and buses. Nagoya station is huge and the busiest place I have ever seen other than American sports arenas and stadiums on game day. The number of shops and trains to access is overwhelming. It would be very easy to get lost in the station or surrounding areas.

After exploring the station, we traveled to the site of our main orientation. Inuyama (literally Dog Mountain), lies north of Nagoya and is a much more traditional area though the urban environments blend relatively seamlessly together. Inuyama is famous for its Japanese castle, which is the oldest intact castle in Japan. In Inuyama, our orientation group stayed at a traditional Japanese inn, the Geihanrou, which was located on the banks of the Kiso River a short distance away from Inuyama Castle. Our orientation consisted of cultural events, three hours of Japanese practice a day and orientation overviews. For the Japanese practice we divided into three different groups by degree of Japanese study. I was placed in the lowest class, but still found the practice difficult as most of the students had far greater exposure and knowledge of Japanese than I did. By the third day of practice, I felt much better and had a greater understanding of what I still needed to learn in order to be successful studying in Japan.

Geihanrou- a traditional Japanese style Inn

 

While in Inuyama our orientation group was able to have several experiences unique to Japan. First, we visited Inuyama Castle. Inuyama Castle is the oldest original castle in Japan, though it is not one of the larger castles. It faced plenty of historical battles during the period of the Tokugawa Shogunate due to its central location in Japan. The exterior of the castle is a beautiful combination of blue and white, while the interior is made of primarily dark wood. Up close, the beauty of the castle does not distract from the fact that it is designed for war. The castle walls are protected by cliffs on two sides and a third side features a steep descent to the Kiso river. The lower foundations are stone and the interior stairs are extremely steep which made it quite nerve-wracking to climb up and down them.

Inuyama Castle　犬山城

View of the Kiso River きそ川 from Inuyama Castle犬山城

Distant view of Monkey Park from Inuyama Castle

Monkey Park is a amusement park in Inuyama that many of the IES students wanted to go and visit. I really do not know much about it, but apparently it is overrun by monkeys.

Ancient tree at Inuyama Castle. The tree is older than the castle itself.

Window of Inuyama Castle

Replica of Inuyama Castle

Pictures of the forty some intact castles in Japan. Many of these are reconstructions. Only 12 original castles still stand. Of these, Inuyama Castle is the oldest.

Frame model of Inuyama Castele. The model demonstrates the use of straight beams to create a lexible structure that bend with the seismic forces of earthquakes. Many temples, shrines, and castles of Japan are built with this style of architecture underlying the basic structure.

A view of the courtyard and roof tiles at Inuyama Castle.

 

A view of Inuyama and Monkey Park from Inuyama Castle

A peach (momo) atop Inuyama Castle. The peach is a symbol of longevity and happiness.

Some of the former lords of Inuyama

Another view of Inuyama Castle

A sacred rock at the shrine below Inuyama Castle

Part of the shrine at Inuyama, the central rope is connected to a bell (not visible) that is rung as part of a ceremony to ask for blessings. The ceremony includes two bows, followed by two claps, a silent request for the blessing, another bow, and a ring of the bell/gong. Also notice the presence of foxes and the twisted paper which are both common elements at Shinto shrines.

Part of the Shinto Shrine at Inuyama. The red gate (torii) is a common sight at such shrines.

A cat sleeping below a fox statue.

Part of the shrine at Inuyama

After leaving the castle and the shrine just below it we walked through Inuyama to a Bunraku museum. Bunraku is a traditional form of puppet theater. At the theater we were treated to a short show demonstrating how the puppets worked and then given an opportunity to try out the puppets and accompanying musical instruments ourselves. I tried out one of the drums, which I was terrible at, as it required hitting the head of the drum while most of my fingers were relaxed. I could not manage that particular trick even when several of our guides provided multiple demonstrations. The puppets used require as many as four people to operate them, using 28 different lines and levers.

 

A cormorant (u) outside the building where the puppet show occurred.

Shojō, a Japanese alcohol spirit that was the star of the short Bunraku performance. In the middle of the show, his face changes from white to red, corresponding to him becoming intoxicated.

Following the Bunraku performance, we were treated to a calligraphy lesson from a famous local calligrapher, Itoh Orson. The calligraphy lesson was given at a house in Inuyama that had originally been lived in by samurai. The arms and armor of the samurai was on display throughout the house.

On the road in Inuyama, heading towards our first calligraphy (Shodō 書道) lesson.

A suit of samurai armor. Notice the prominent crest on the helmet. This was used to distinguish between different samurai.

Some samurai swords (katanas)

More weaponry and armor at the samurai house

A shrine at the samurai house including cucumber, salt, fish, sake, mushroom, and one other item that I cannot recall at the moment.

That evening we at our dinner on the Kiso river in a small boat. Afterwards we viewed ukai fishing. Ukai is a traditional method of fishing using trained cormorants (a water fowl) in groups of ten. Each boat has a large flame suspended above the water to attract fish. The lead fisherman handles lines attached to each cormorant while two other fisherman work to maneuver the boat. When a cormorant catches a fish the rope attached to its throat prevents it from swallowing the fish. Then the lead fisherman pulls in the cormorant and forces it to expell the fish.

A boat similar to the ones by which we viewed ukai or cormorant fishing

Kiso River

Aboard the boat

The obento for our meal on the Kiso River

A view of the Kiso river from the boat

Ukai, cormorant fishing

Ukai

Three boats engaged in ukai

On the last night of our orientation, after dinner, a karaoke machine was brought out and we were serenaded to by our fellow students in both English and Japanese. Popular songs included Justin Bieber’s Baby, Baby and Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a great way to end our orientation before we returned to Nagoya and school registration at Nanzan the next day.

I hope to provide an update on living with a host family and cultural differences between Japan and the United States soon, but for now I am just happy to have finished the post! Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions!