Chrysanthemums unplucked
In the wide awake club early on. And got up at seven to write my blog. Lorraine and I joined Toby and Romy for breakfast in our own private room. We opted for western style this morning, and this was excellent with coffee, orange juice, pastries and scrambled eggs and bacon. Off at 11, and the owner of the Ryokan personally drove us to visit a highly-accomplished local potter, Fujisawa Segeo, in his studio at his house. We passed through short tunnels in steep hills, and turned up a residential road with a gushing stream on the side and woods on the other, convincing me that this was an utterly beautiful area. The combination of trees and hills, characterful but modest buildings and an abundance of running water and snow. We browsed among his shelves in his workshop and we all loved his work. His wife brought us some tea as we looked. From there we were driven to a renowned wood turner called Satake Yasuhiro who makes exquisite lacquered items. We went into his workshop and saw the...