Friday, November 6, 2009

Stone festival in Kasama

An artifact called "The statue of Maiden" in this vast art park.


Cubic artifacts that looked like zodiac signs such as a sheep, monkey.


A festival was held down the hill.


Wooden clogs were sold. I haven't worn this for many years.


Do they look like Japanese porcelain in your eyes?

Many kinds of cups. The piece of paper says some were inspired by acorns.


It would take years before ordinary people could carve these out of stone.

Very cute houses.
 


This looked like a coin that was used in the 8th century in Japan.

A stone figure called "Bujin zou". Bujin means "warrior".

. Rice dumplings. The right side of the circle is ones with miso baste.


I decided to try the miso one. This was so huge that my stomach was half full.


Before going home I had a coffee at the restaurant. These cup and saucer were made of ceramic of course.

Hi everybody, the other day I went to a city called Kasama, which is renowned for its ceramics, because a friend of mine was invited to an event where his friend was showcasing ceramic saucers, coffee cups, and so on. It was so cold in the city as it is situated dozens of kilometers north from my city, but I enjoyed looking at various kinds of ceramics.

The event was held in a vast park where there was a museum that also displayed ceramics made by famous potters. I visit the park at least once a year, as its scenery is so beautiful and the atmosphere is refreshing. I'm not into ceramics, but if an event is held at the park, I can enjoy having unique Japanese food as well.

Japan has several renowned china brands like Arita, Kyoto ware, and this Kasama ware is also one of the china brands that represent a traditional aspect of this country. When I was a child, I thought chinaware can be only appreciated by old people, but on this day I saw lots of young people who were displaying ceramics and taking pics of them.