Shigaraki


It is one of the most well-known towns producing Japanese traditional pottery (Please click Read More for details)

Today I had a job appointment in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture, where many potteries are producing Shigaraki Yaki ('yaki' literally is a noun form of to give a heat to material, but coming with the name of a place, it means pottery). As today is a Japanese national holiday, Masayo came with me and we visited the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park (ah... they officially call themselves like this!) after the job was finished. It is a huge park and they show artistic potteries here and there. We enjoyed the scenery and the cool wind blew from the mountains as the wether these days has been unusually hot.

The most famous Shigaraki Yaki may be the statue of raccoon dog.
This raccoon dog is regarded as a symbol of prosperity, and many people put them in their gardens, door ways etc. Round eyes in search for better future, big belly filled with good food, an accountant notebook (yes, it always carries one) with business opportunities, big groins for many children, etc etc. Below is a photo of the gigantic one standing in front of Shigaraki station.




There are female raccoon dogs as well:



They are now a big family:



They also sell many statues of owl and toad, but they are not as popular as raccoon dogs, and I even do not know the origins of them.

Looking at this kind of public tradition, I think I can offer you other sides of our culture more or less!!

Just for your information, either of the below two is Masayo.

Posted: (月) - 9 15, 2003 at 04:50 PM          

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