A potter in the mountains
Last day of the new year, and not one I will look back on with completely unmixed affection, though there have been some excellent parts too, such as my holiday in Guernsey with my family... And this trip to Japan is an excellent way to end it.
Today we took Jennifer off to the shinkansen station in Kakegawa as she is returning to Hong Kong. After we said goodbye to Jennifer (who I always think of as Jen-i-fah wa? or where`s Jennifer? a refrain of Hiroko's when we were travelling) we sloped off for some more food. This time I tried a Japanese curry with udon noodles. Not so wild about this meal as some of the others. And we ate in a restaurant which made me feel like Gulliver in Lilliput as the space was so cramped, and barging around makes the locals snicker.
Then up to Kakegawa castle which was closed, but we had a really lovely view there over town and the mountains around.
We took a scenic drive back home, through the hills and got slightly lost. However we found a potter`s studio ideally situated on the side of a mountain. He had been in London and spoke some English and we had a really nice chat about writing and the pottery he had seen in England. He said he had wanted to be a writer, and then turned to pottery. His work was very nice, but nothing grabbed me completely apart from some tea bowls which were prohibitively expensive but had an utterly beautiful cracked glaze finish.
He said that his area was very dark at night and the stars were bright. For some reason I told him that he caught the darkness in the bottom of his pots, and he seemed to like this.
Hiroko knew him vaguely too - which was interesting considering we had been lost.
Home and another massive feast, which I took a photograph of. Toby and I phoned Mum and then settled down to a few drinks and to watch a TV show which is a national institution on New Year's Eve. A programme with dozens of singers appealing to all generations, and split into red and white teams for some sort of sing off at the end.
And so to bed.
Last day of the new year, and not one I will look back on with completely unmixed affection, though there have been some excellent parts too, such as my holiday in Guernsey with my family... And this trip to Japan is an excellent way to end it.
Today we took Jennifer off to the shinkansen station in Kakegawa as she is returning to Hong Kong. After we said goodbye to Jennifer (who I always think of as Jen-i-fah wa? or where`s Jennifer? a refrain of Hiroko's when we were travelling) we sloped off for some more food. This time I tried a Japanese curry with udon noodles. Not so wild about this meal as some of the others. And we ate in a restaurant which made me feel like Gulliver in Lilliput as the space was so cramped, and barging around makes the locals snicker.
Then up to Kakegawa castle which was closed, but we had a really lovely view there over town and the mountains around.
We took a scenic drive back home, through the hills and got slightly lost. However we found a potter`s studio ideally situated on the side of a mountain. He had been in London and spoke some English and we had a really nice chat about writing and the pottery he had seen in England. He said he had wanted to be a writer, and then turned to pottery. His work was very nice, but nothing grabbed me completely apart from some tea bowls which were prohibitively expensive but had an utterly beautiful cracked glaze finish.
He said that his area was very dark at night and the stars were bright. For some reason I told him that he caught the darkness in the bottom of his pots, and he seemed to like this.
Hiroko knew him vaguely too - which was interesting considering we had been lost.
Home and another massive feast, which I took a photograph of. Toby and I phoned Mum and then settled down to a few drinks and to watch a TV show which is a national institution on New Year's Eve. A programme with dozens of singers appealing to all generations, and split into red and white teams for some sort of sing off at the end.
And so to bed.
Below a bite to eat on the kotatsu local graveyard, Kakegawa Castle,
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