Mashiko Yaki Japanese Ceramic Tableware
I have met up with my partner in Shinbashi, Japan over some sake. Shinbashi is known for the happy hour drinking spot for Japanese businessmen. Roppongi, Shibuya are where the younger crowds are and Shinbashi is where the older business crowd goes. There are many restaurants lined up here and it is truly amazing to see so many people stepping in for a quick drink. And being a friday, it makes it even more difficult to find a place with open tables. Makes me wonder if Japan is really still in a recession with the appearance of such lively crowd. After that we were on our trip with a slight hang over. We visited the Mashiko machi (Mashiko town) located in the southeastern region in the Ibaraki prefecture, my main purpose of this trip. This area is known for the “yakimono” (meaning pottery), and there are over 400 potteries at this major ceramic production center.
Mashiko Machi
Relatively located close to Tokyo(Approximately 2-3 hours away) there are many visitors seen here. The history dates back to the late Edo Period which is relatively recent but the abundant resource of clay is present here in Mashiko for building high quality pottery and its rustic styled ceramics is what makes them very famous.
Amidst of the idyllic scenery of the countryside, the signs indicating the potteries become prevalent. After seeing 40 or so individual potteries I found a large compound that integrates many potteries in one center. Numerous displays of various types of ceramics are sold in a basket, some on glass displays, almost like a farmer’s market, and it is amazing to see the the Japanese cultural way of selling the items! The aisles are so narrow, you need to be very careful not to bump off any item without breaking them. Japanese people seem to be so used to this, they shop very quickly and carefully like an expert. I was extremely cautious since I didn’t want to knock off anything not knowing if any of these items are cheap or extremely expensive! Families with small children beware!!
ceramic Tanuki (Raccoon) statue
Here, you can challenge creating your own Pottery. I did not try it out this time since you had to reserve a schedule but next time I’d like to make something for my own original piece.
The biggest object that caught my eye on this site was the center’s humongous trademark ceramic Tanuki (Raccoon) statue 10 meters high! I have no idea why it’s a raccoon but no one here knows why either. Although it has been known from olden days in Japan for it’s good luck just like the “Maniki Neko” (the lucky cat). After thinking about it, it has a very inviting and friendly features and makes you feel comfortable around it. Does look playful in a sense too.
Partly to browse for a possible product search for our web store, and a little souvenir for my family, I have found many pure quality products handcrafted in Japan. My goal is affirmed to bring these quality products is solid now.
Now on my way to the “onsen” hot springs stay where my staff had arranged.
Chef
The secret secluded onsen is another 3 hours of travel by car from this location. We have arrived a bit late than the arranged check-in. It is located in the same prefecture called Kawamata Onsen.
The special feature about this place is not only it’s great hot springs but also the quality food you enjoy with the stay. A large wooden tub filled with the freshest ingredient from the mountains gathered locally, only available in its season. Shiitake Mushrooms, mountain vegetables are placed in the wooden tub with water. The chef brings in a red glowing object into the middle of the room where the tub sits. The red object was a glowing hot rock, gently lays the rock into the tub. As soon as the rock hits the water, a huge steam fills the whole room and boils the water vigorously!
Sake with a fish
The chef explains that cooking with the instant heat makes the ingredients bring out the flavors to its full extent, without sacrificing any freshness. Very profound performance!
This is sake with a fresh water fish “Iwana” grilled and sunk into the bowl of sake, and the grilled fish releases the “dashi” a making the sake very smooth with a soft flavor. It has some unique pungency but well worth it to try it if you ever have the chance to!
After having a delicious gourmet, we return to our room to enjoy some more great local sake. Then we dip into the hot springs again! The staff informed us that monkeys frequent the hot springs too so we may be able to see them!
Being on a weekday, the place was empty so we had the whole place to ourselves! All the sakes we drank go a bit wild, (although it was prohibited to be loud and obnoxious!)
the "onsen" hot springs
Right next to the onsen, a beautiful small stream of river flowed. The river was about 6 feet of drop from the onsen. The flow of the stream during this November was moderately strong and cold (just around autumn to winter time in Japan) we began diving into the river… We were instantly sober after dipping into the stream!
Next day the staff asked if we jumped into the river last night. They said other visitors had heard us jumping into the river. He said that in the past, some people had died from hypothermia doing the same thing we did.
After apologizing for our craziness, we went onto our next location, the world heritage “Nikko”.
Nikko
This temple was claimed as a world heritage. There were many visitors since it was a popular time to view the “Koyo” the autumn changing of the leaves color during this time, and were fortunate to be there to see them in time.
“Tokugawa Ieyasu”, the Shogun of Edo Shogunate who opened up the Edo Bakufu was buried here. The sophisticated architectures and decorations of Japan was stunning to see. The shrine itself was so large, it took more than 2 hours to see.
Although the temple itself was beautiful and stunning to see, I was a bit disappointed of the marketing. As the head master monk explained about the shrine in detail, he had summarized the explanation with a marketing in mind. He had explained about the year of birth and you can “purchase” a good luck charm right outside the door for your exact birth year…
