Discover a Japanese town full of ceramics, ceramic artists, wonderful local food and culture. Travel to us free - in VR!
  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • To Tajimi and back: foreign visitors' impressions of our city
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • ​多治見に訪れた人たち、そしてその後
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads

A polar bear pottery performance

An awkward stage appearance with a happy end
Picture
Tokkuri - or Japanese sake decanters - come in an endless variation of designs.
Picture
A white, Japanese speaking foreigner in Japan is a strange being - especially if he throws a sake flask on a potter's wheel on stage. 
Picture
The word tokkuri typically refers to a sake bottle with a slim neck, commonly made from ceramics.
As you watch the above video clip, which I gave a bit of a comic touch with dramatic music, you should know there was a lot more to the story than the images tell. I was urged to step into the spotlight at the pottery performance and found myself in a strange, internal struggle. Should I resist or should I cave in to expectations? Was I, the clumsy old bear that am, going to make a fool of myself trying to shape a delicate, wobbly and soft object literally spinning out of control on the potter's wheel? Crippled by inaction I watched the scene unfold around me by a force of its own, and ended up in a place I hadn't expected. Read on to learn about the prelude and the ending of the story. The video is merely the middle...
Picture
Shino ware tea bowl, similar in colour to what i hope my tokkuri will look like when it has been fired...
​It was a hot October day in Tajimi, Japan, and I had ended up with the last remaining seat at the event in front of the station. We had come here to film pottery maestro Hidetaki Ando, a man who sell his wares for thousands of dollars, but also is the most charming person you can imagine. The way he speaks the local dialect - tono-ben - is a big part of it, an irresistible charm so totally absent from standard Japanese. 

There were a lot of people attending the show. My seat, one of the few remaining, bathed in the blazing afternoon sun, and I quickly began to consider escaping to somewhere more comfortable in the shade.

"Don't move from there!" My wife gave me a stern look when I began to rise. "This is the only angle from where you can film Ando-sensei without obstruction. You stay where you are!"

My Japanese wife is diminutive with regards to her bodily frame, but can halt a charging bull with one of those looks. I sat down again and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I wished I had brought a towel. Then I pulled out my mobile phone and started filming Ando-sensei, as the master started to shape a clump of play into an elegant vase. It looked so wonderfully simple. I remembered how miserably I have failed in my first attempt at throwing a bowl. It was at a friend's pottery studio here in Tajimi, and we had all burst out in laughter as my bowl started to wobble on the wheel and collapse into a mess. You need to keep your fingers wet to avoid friction, otherwise the clay begins to wobble under your fingertips, and the more you try to stop the thing dancing on the wheel the worse it gets. I am terrible with anything requiring fine motoric ability. Always drop things and spill water glasses. Sometimes I even suspect I have some motoric disability. Having tried the potter's wheel once I knew I was a hopeless student of this ancient craft. It was better left to others.

"When Ando-sensei invites people to try, you are going to raise your hand, darling," said my wife.

"No!"

"Yes, you will!"

And I knew I would. I wiped some more sweat off my forehead. I wished I had brought a handkerchief. Who would have expected this kind of heat in late October? No wonder this was the only empty seat in front row. I was baking in the sun, while the rest of the audience sat in the shade under the ceiling that covered everyone except me.

Now Ando-sensei had finished his vase and the announcer addressed the audience:

"Who wants to try making something? The maestro will help you out, don't worry!"

I felt my wife pulling at my arm.

"Your turn now," she whispered in my ear.

I felt something strong and powerful rising inside me. A resistance. I turned my head and looked back at the crowd. Not a single foreigner there. Here I was, a big, white, overweight and bald polar bear about to dance on stage. I wondered if there actually are bald polar bears. It didn't matter, that's how I felt. To my relief an elderly lady rose her hand, and maestro Ando invited her to take a seat by his side.

By the time the lady was finished the announcer had had me in his cross-hairs for quite some time. No escape this time. My wife pulled at my arm again, and I raised it before he even had a chance to address me. In my mind I shrank to a very small, embarrassed, and resigned little man, so very different from the bulky guy that now stepped forward to take a seat by the side of the Maestro. For my mind's eye I saw that wobbly piece of clay spinning out of control. So I decided to try to make something impossible. A tokkuri. The proper English name is sake flask or decanter. That's much harder than a simple bowl, since it has a neck and a mouth. Surely I would ruin the thing half way through, but it felt cowardly to try something plain and simple, like a bowl. Everybody can throw a bowl after a couple of tries, they say. Except me.

My fear of failure in front of an audience is an old curse of mine. I still dream about coming to German class and discovering that I have forgot to do the homework. Our high-school German teacher in my hometown in Sweden was quite an old dragon, a cello-playing perfectionist who wouldn't tolerate people skipping their homework. Every week there was an oral test, and she would pick one student and commence a tortuous test that seemed to last foreve. I still have nightmares where I come to class and is picked for the test, not having a clue how this week's verbs should be inflected.

But there is more to this story than my old fear of failure. To be a foreigner in Japan is something very different from Europe or the US, where you have to be truly odd looking to stand out. Places like New York or London are melting pots, where you will see millions of people from all corners of the world. Japan is different. There was a time when I would step into a café in Tokyo and the waitresses would look at me in bewilderment. I remember one time when they all ended up in a corner, pushing each other, arguing about who should take the order. "I don't speak a word of English, you do it!" they quarreled. It was quite an embarrassment sitting there at the table, waiting for them to sort out the problem. 

On the countryside of Japan, foreigners are still a rarity - especially Caucasians. In Tajimi I rarely see other white people. Chinese are a common sight in certain areas, and easy to spot on their old, second hand bikes when they go shopping in groups. They and other Asians come to work in Japan and save up money. More and more unskilled workers are allowed to enter the country temporarily, as companies struggle to fill positions because of a shrinking population and the unwillingness of young people to work in manufacturing - like in the small factories in Tajimi. I, on the other hand, am a rare sight here with my blond hair and Scandinavian look. So far I have only met one person from the Nordic countries in Tajimi (a Finnish girl), and only a handful of other Caucasians. That's why I felt like a polar bear when I stepped forward to join maestro Ando on stage.

The announcer asked me where I came from, and when I answered in Japanese he seemed amazed. Japan is still at a stage where foreign people who can speak the native language fluently are noteworthy, and people who are fluent in the written language as well are a sensation. It's really hard to get to that level. Here in Tajimi I may be the only foreigner approaching fluency both in spoken and written Japanese. I fired off a quick response to the greeting, and the audience reacted immediately. The show was on.

I have added English subtitles to the video, so hopefully you have a good idea of what happened next. (If you couldn't see the subtitles, make sure they are switched on. Turn them on by clicking on the little "cc" button at the bottom right corner of the screen. On mobile, tap the screen to see the icon, or the three little dots that open the captions menu). I look quite happy and jovial in the video. I was, in fact. Maybe it was Ando-sensei's charming dialect and friendliness, maybe it was just the fact that the tokkuri behaved itself. When I got to the hard part I started a little chat with the announcer about the Swedish pottery town of Gustavsberg, and forgot the thing on the wheel. Ando-sensei took over and before I knew it there was only a little touch-up work left. I folded down the edge of the mouth a bit so that it will be easier to pour the sake. Afterwards I was asked to choose between three kinds of glazes, and I picked a pink Shino glaze.

I hadn't messed up things after all! Did I just produce a real Shino style tokkuri? It had all happened in a matter of minutes! I imagined myself serving someone sake with my nice, partly-made-by-my-very-self decanter. Wouldn't that be pleasant? If my old German teacher is still alive, she would be a great first guest, indeed. True, had I made the thing myself it would surely have ended up warped in all sorts of ways. I would surely fail if I attempted to fire it myself, that is better left to Ando-sensei. 

I though of the terrible heat the little decanter must endure in the kiln. I guess Ando-sensei is not going to fire it in his old-style noborigama, but in a modern gas kiln. I read he uses that for the inexpensive goods he makes. Even so, after all the writing and thinking I have done about pottery since starting this site, the little tokkuri has found a special place in my heart. It is not such a bad idea after all to try out pottery in one of the many workshops around here. A bit of quick work and a few stains of clay on your trousers is all it takes to make something that could last for centuries.

I would never have though so, but my little trial have finally turned me into a pottery fan.
To get an idea of how Ando-sensei works and the things he makes, you can view this program, that starts with a scene showing him working at his kiln firing Shino ware. He put glaze (yuyaku in Japanese) on the wares by dipping them into the liquid. At one point he smashes fired goods that he finds faulty. Shards from ancient, smashed Shino ware that were found in the mountains of Kani city near Tajimi is regarded as evidence that the area is the origin of this fine brand of pottery.
Get news on the latest stories in your mailbox
The Swedish Gustavsberg Porcelain town is mentioned in the story. You can take a VR tour here.
Take the Gustavsberg VR Tour
Back to story index
Images on this page
​
Tokkuri (collection of Japanese sake flasks)
​By Yuya Tamai from Gifu, Japan (徳利 tokkuri) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tokkuri (single Japanese sake flask)
I, Katorisi [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
Shino ware tea bowl
By Daderot - Own work, CC0, Link

maPS

  • EAT & DRINK
  • LODGING
  • EXPERIENCES
Tajimi Tourist Association
Business hours: Every day 09:00 - 18:00
Tel 0572-24-6460
Find out more
Japan's first Virtual Reality pottery site - Tajimi
Discover the Mecca of pottery in Japan
Produced by Mimir LLC, a VR company

Services

海外発信サポート
インバウンド観光
観光企画
VR映像、HP制作
言語サポート

Company

​会社案内
会社概要
業務内容
​​ハンス カールソン

Support

問い合わせ
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
© 2017 Tajimi Tourism Association
  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • To Tajimi and back: foreign visitors' impressions of our city
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • ​多治見に訪れた人たち、そしてその後
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads