Tobe day trip

Last week I started the “Summer Intensive Japanese Class,” basically a classroom setting for a two week Japanese class with ten lessons, two hours each day. It’s timed each year to be the two weeks immediately after the new crop of JET Programme ALTs arrive, and conveniently provides them with a crash course in survival Japanese if they haven’t any existing skills, or improves their skills if they’ve already started studying the language. As I already have some Japanese under my belt, I’m in level two of five, and the class is perfectly suited to my level. Like me, everyone can read Hiragana and Katakana, and most of us can read a few Kanji.

One of the neat things about meeting all of these new English speakers is that my social circle suddenly doubled in size (at least). Unfortunately, I work in the evenings, when the JET ALTs are getting together and being social, but Sundays are good for everyone.

Well, I started talking to a JET from Britain, and we decided to hang out today, and it turned out to be the best day I’ve had in a while.

The main activity of the day was making Tobeyaki pottery at this place. Tobeyaki is handmade pottery from Tobe, a small town to the south of Matsuyama. It’s something I’ve been interested in doing for a while, and this was a great opportunity to be social and accomplish one of my goals.

Getting down there was pretty easy. Navigating the bus system is relatively straightforward if you’re armed with a list of stops. Even though our list was a little confusing because it didn’t include all of the small neighborhood stops, I still recognized the kanji for Tobe. The bus driver even helped us figure out the closest stop to our destination (a service I wouldn’t expect in the states).

We had a couple hours to kill before our 1:00 appointment, so we ate a fantastic Indian lunch at a tiny restaurant we wandered into. Just walking in the door, I could smell the authenticity, and the food didn’t disappoint. My mutton curry was even appropriately spicy (something I’ve found surprisingly unusual in Japan).

	It was the first time Vicky or I had used a pottery wheel, and we were both glad to have aprons.
	We both made a few pieces. My plate and tall cup were a bit awkward, but my soy sauce saucer, bowl, and small cup turned out pretty well. The largest piece you make is free, and the rest (that you choose to keep after seeing how your pieces turn out) are ¥200 per 100 grams of clay.
	Vicky’s pieces are on the left, mine on the right. Total cost of the 45-minute session with instructor, and the purchase of my two extra pieces: Â¥2800 (~$28.00), which I think is a pretty good deal. Our instructor was a really cool twenty-something Japanese guy who graduated with an art degree from the University of St Cloud in Minnesota (I requested an English-speaking instructor when Ms. Semba helped me make the reservation).
	These kids started as we were finishing. (A for effort!) Their mom was shooting up a storm on her digital camera. You can see their instructor’s grey toe socks in this shot.

Now, they fire the pieces in a slow kiln for four (?) days. We go back in a few weeks to paint the pieces, then they glaze them and they’re ready for pickup after that (or they’ll mail them to you for a small fee).

The bus ride back to Matsuyama was uneventful. We each grabbed a green tea doughnut (an unusual taste to be sure, but quite good if you like matcha) from Mister Donut, and walked over to Starbucks for a chat.

Like I said, the best day I’ve had in a while. =)