More dishes

A couple days ago my friend took me to a wonderful little Japanese restaurant.

"I think you'd like it, Tanya, the dishes are wonderful!"

She meant "dishes" such as plates and bowls. The food was of course delicious, but the restaurant also has a little shop that sells pottery so it was enjoyable to have a quiet, tasty lunch and then look around the shop afterwards.

If you live in Japan very long, one aquires quite a selection of pottery. Practically anywhere you go there is a pottery town nearby to visit. The different mountains of Japan produce different types of clay and different glazes. Depending on the area some of the pottery may be rough and with a simple glaze or nearly like china with intricate designs painted and a sprinking of gold. All the department stores will have wonderfully displayed dishware departments with pottery from all over Japan and customers are sure to find something that matches their taste.

Brides in America will go to a department store and register their dishware design and friends and family will purchase pieces for the collection. In Japan, dishware is a conglomeration of sizes and colors and styles. It lends for interest and different colored dishes will enhance the different colors of food. Cups may be used for salads, baskets may be used for tempura. I've even seen broken pieces of pottery used to hold a morsel of food. Talk about interesting!

The down part about all this pottery is that NOTHING STACKS TOGETHER! They don't fit well in the cupboards and they don't fit well in the dishwasher (if you are lucky enough to have one. I don't!) My cupboards are full of dishware that have nothing to do with each other and I am often tempted to buy some new little cup or plate at the wonderful pottery shops in town and in neighboring resort areas. But where am I going put another piece of pottery?

After our nice lunch my friend and I looked around the exquistely displayed pottery shop. The prices are also very dear so I refrained from any purchases (my cupboards are pretty filled and remember, I don't like to cook!) But I took a couple of pictures.

Look at this cute little pottery cat and kitten I found in a corner! That is supposed to be a Maneki Neko, a welcoming cat. (See the kitten's paw waving to welcome you into the house?)