Archive for April, 2009
Gracious Heirs to a Gentleman’s Kiln: Chotaro-yaki Pottery
Kagoshima is famous for its shochu liquor. Kurojoka are teapot-like vessels used for holding and pouring shochu. I was already in Kagoshima, so I decided to pay a visit to the Chotaro-yaki Kiln, home of this iconic symbol of Kagoshima’s shochu culture. But what’s this? It seems there are several places all named Chotaro-yaki Kiln…I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I picked one and knocked on the door.
Looking for Grandma’s Comb: Kita Factory
There must be a lot of women out there who are on a constant search for the perfect comb. However, the world today is flooded with cheap plastic combs. I don’t mean to criticise man-made materials, but surely there’s something better! Of course the modern gentleman also has an interest in finding a good comb. After all, it seems like it would be better for the scalp… yes, baldness prevention! I remembered a special woman in my life who has always had beautiful hair, and asked her where she got her comb. My grandmother doesn’t always remember things well, but she was very sure that her comb was a tsuge kushi comb. With these words in mind, I paid a visit to Kita Factory, a tsuge kushi maker located in Ibusuki, on the southernmost tip of the Satsuma Peninsula, in Kagoshima prefecture.
To see the world through the eyes of insects: Episode 3
A garden into which sparkling sunlight streams overflows with greenery and flowers in bloom. Butterflies and bees dance, ants and mantises parade. Among the busily moving insects, a solitary old man stoops over, motionless. His eyes, hardly even blinking, follow the shapes of the insects. Sometimes reflecting the sun, they are as clear as an infant’s. Because of his age I guess, wrinkles run across his face but even so his skin is quite moist. He watches the insects so as to commit to memory their expressions and movements. Afterwards, in no time at all, the forms of those insects are, through his fingertips and well-loved brush, duplicated on drawing paper.
To see the world through the eyes of insects : Episode 2
A garden into which sparkling sunlight streams overflows with greenery and flowers in bloom. Butterflies and bees dance, ants and mantises parade. Among the busily moving insects, a solitary old man stoops over, motionless. His eyes, hardly even blinking, follow the shapes of the insects. Sometimes reflecting the sun, they are as clear as an infant’s. Because of his age I guess, wrinkles run across his face but even so his skin is quite moist. He watches the insects so as to commit to memory their expressions and movements. Afterwards, in no time at all, the forms of those insects are, through his fingertips and well-loved brush, duplicated on drawing paper.
