Sunday, November 8, 2015

Japan 2015 -- Eating with Ceramic Artists 1

One of the pleasures of visiting ceramic artists is being served snacks, tea and sweets or full meals, depending on the time of day, very often served on their own or their ancestors' dishes and bowls. I will deal in this post with some of the simpler fare we encountered on the tour, with a couple of fabulous full meals to be described in subsequent posts.

Yoshikowa Masamichi sculpture
One of our early stops was at the home and atelier of Yoshikawa Masamichi, whose wife served us unagi don (marinated grilled eel over rice), with accompanying pickles and rice of course, and a custard dessert: a simple but tasty lunch.



Unagi don with Yoshikawa tea cup
At the home of Kato Ryotaro, we were served the obligatory sweets with matcha (powdered green tea mixed with a whisk) served from bowls by the artist, his father and his National Treasure grandfather, a lovely treat and a chance to examine tea bowls by three generations of potters.

Kato Ryotaro's grandfather's tea bowl, with tea and after draining

Imai Hyoe sculpture


 When we visited Imai Hyoe, he recalled that Joan had enjoyed a creme brulée from a local bakery, so these beauties accompanied our tea.

Beautiful crème brulée
Hori Ichiro, known for his traditional wood-fired vessels, served us tea in some of his rustic tea cups.

Hori Ichiro teacups standing by
And at the home of Takegoshi Jun, the famous Kanazawa artist, we were proudly served a kind of local sweet, which none of us had seen before, to precede our green tea.

Kanazawa tea sweets
Just some of the simpler pleasures of artist visits.

Bobby Jay

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