April 29, 2009

• 4/30/2009 Arita Ceramics Market!!

  I went to the 4 kilometer long ceramics fair in Arita today and shopped till I dropped.  Actually, I ran out of time and had to catch the train back.  I debated about whether to get off at Arita Station and as last year, look in all the shops on the left on the then double back to return to Arita checking out the shops on the right, OR getting off at Kami Arita one stop before Arita and just make one pass through hiking to Arita Station.  The only problem with that is there is no chance to return and get things after thinking about whether I REALLY want to get them or not, which means that I get more than planned.  Well, it is only two of each item anyway since it is only hub and I at "Camp Fukuoka."  I decided to make the single pass route and got off at Kami Arita.  I think it was a good choice because the stuff at the Kami Arita end seemed to be of better quality (and higher price).  I got all the stuff that I looked at and didn't get last year.  Don't ask me anything else! 

  

  The poster for this year's ceramics festival.

  

  I get out of the train station and the first shop is "Usagiya Gama" or "Rabbit Kiln."  No, this place does not specialize in cooked rabbits, but rather rabbit themed crockery.  I had to get a mug!

   

  Cups with golden glaze

   

  These were nice, too.  The design is worked into the clay, cut thin and molded into cups and dishes.  The process must be very difficult!  They were very nice, but so were the price tags.  Just a picture here.

   

  Let's pass through the tunnel and get going!!

   

  This was nice and cheap, three for $10.  I would have gotten some if not for the dorky dots.

   

  It's going to be warm, so be sure you have a hat to keep the sun off.

  

  More bunnisch mugs

  

  There is a lot to look through!

  

  We've only just begun!

  

  This lovely swirl design was at the bottom of a "suribachi, a grooved bowl that is used together with a pestle for grinding sesame and mixing sauces.

  

  Suribachi as seen from the outside.  Very nice, but I have a perfectly good pink one up in Tokyo.  If I am still in Fukuoka for the ceramics fair next year, this will come home with me.

  

  I brought home a couple of these dishes with a Mt. Fuji design.  The clouds are gold and silver.

  

  Here are some antique retro teacups.  They look a bit hard to handle.

  

  Just lovely!

  

  We needed some flat dishes for serving grilled fish.  These were ok, but not at $25 each.  The cobalt blue is a bit dull.

  

  Oh no!  I saw these "Gagyu Gama Kiln" cups last year and was able to leave them behind, but not this year.  I will make a separate entry of what I actually bought later.

  

  This fellow working at the Gagyu Gama shop was special!  He asked me where I was from and asked me if I knew Albany!  He got out a small sake cup and gave it to me for free!  He is a member of the Rotary Club and works with student exchange programs.  He is an avid fan of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and the musicians of that era.  His parents were killed when the atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki.  I had to give him a hug before I left.

  

  A bit out of focus, sorry.

  

  

  Now THESE were absolutely golden gorgeous, but out of my price range.  I think they must have been about $70 each.  Remember I have already lighted my wallet at Gagyu Gama.

  

  Morning glories - al$o very nice.

  

  A lovely lineup of vases!

  

  These are seconds and cheap at $20, but I already have more vases than I can use.

  

  This was the prettiest, but over $100, so I have a very lovely picture to remember it by.

  

  An old building called the "Ijinkan"

  

  This black building houses very nice merchandise, but I didn't see anything I "needed" this time.

  

  

  This was inside either Koransha or Fukagawa, I don't remember which.  Anyway, I drooled in these cups last year, and this year I brought one home in which to drool.

  

  Let's keep walking!

  

  Dishes with a carp streamer design

  

  It's hot!  The man with the orange cart is selling ersatz ice cream, but when the sun is beating down, nobody cares.

  

  Above and below is Imari Ware - the real old stuff.  I just looked here, too.

  

  

  Hmm, to get or not to get?  Not to get.

  

  Oh, no, another Gagyu Gama shop.  Half price?  Gimmee two of those green cups!

  

  This old feller was making brooms.

  

  A pottery lesson

  

  There were more food concessions this year, I think.  Last year there was really no place to eat that I could find, so I wised up and brought my lunch this year.

  Time is running short and my train leaves from Arita in half an hour, so gotta stop looking and get moving.  Here is what I brought home!

  

  The bowls on the left were a last minute purchase from a bargain bin of odd pieces.  I was lucky to be able to find two. 

  

  Green bowls from Koransha, and dishes for grilled fish.  There is some feng-shui reason why grilled fish is always serve on a rectangular dish, but I forget what it is.

  

  I left these green dishes behind last time.

  

  We actually got these in Dazaifu, but as long as I had my camera out...  Ain't the dorky rabbit cute?

  

  A $50 coffee cup left behind last year brought home this year for $10!

  

  Ufbad, if you are looking, I did bring this one home!  It's all your fault for telling me not to leave it behind!  Haha!

  

  More odd pieces.  The red dish will be for used to throw jewelry in that I am too lazy to put away.  The blue cup maybe I should have left behind.  The teapot, another last minute purchase, is proving handy at Camp Fukuoka.

  

  I left these cups behind last year, too.  Just one of each, mind you.

  

  I also got two each of these from Gagyu-gama Kiln.  I am rather afraid to use them.

  

  Doesn't this look like a cross between Kandinsky and Okamoto Taro?  Just love it from the Usagi-gama Rabbit Kiln.

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