Mashiko Town

Ooops. I missed posting yesterday...

Tetsu, Leiya and I went off on Saturday to Mashiko Town which is very famous throughout Japan for its pottery. We're about an hour away and practically anyone who comes to the Nikko area will make a visit to Mashiko. Leiya had been saying that she really wanted to visit just because she's been doing ceramics in high school and she wanted to see the Mashiko pottery and show us how she uses the wheel.

I gave the camera to Leiya for the day and she must have taken 100 pictures of things she found beautiful but obviously I'm not going to be able to show them all here. 15 years ago Mashiko was a dinky little town that always seemed dusty to me. Dark little hole in the wall shops that were stuffed with so much pottery you couldn't see anything. Sort of wade around the piles and dig around the shelves until you found something you liked. Gradually the town has been beautifying itself and now it really is a delight to wander through. A very Japanese atmosphere to the whole place and the store keepers have done an excellent job of combining glass and wood and stone to make impressive displays. The shops themselves have been reconverted from old style Japanese houses and thick stone storehouses that traditionally held valuables of wealthy landowners. If you ever visit Japan and have an interest pottery, this is a place to visit. The town itself is not so big but for people who like this sort of craft you could spend a whole day looking at all the artists' works.

Mashiko pottery is very simple and rustic and foreigners often find it coarse and bulky. It is quite heavy and doesn't stack well, and compared to the more delicate porcelain of the Kyoto area which has detailed designs painted on it, Mashiko looks very amateur and countryish to the untrained eye. Originally it had little color and was glazed with just a bit of brownish red. Saturday, however, we saw many different styles of pottery in an abundance of colors and patterns but it still maintains its rustic look. I think Mashiko pottery grows on you as you use it and though I didn't buy anything this weekend, quite a lot of the dishes that I use for our daily meals is from Mashiko.

Since I've still got nearly a hundred pictures in the file, I'll probably have more to say about Mashiko tomorrow...