April 15 and 16 - Nagasaki and Fukuoka (Arita), Japan

It has been a while since I’ve written because we’ve had eight port days in a row and there has been no time.  Now I’ll try to catch up.

On April 15 we docked in Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan.  Most of us know the name because on August 9, 1945 it was the second city on which an A-bomb was dropped.  There weren’t many tours offered and all of them were listed as “strenuous,” which I don’t do, and all but one involved going to various sites involved with the bomb.  As it turns out, it was a wise decision because it was a rainy day and everyone I knew who went on a tour came back totally drenched and told me that the tours they went on required walking up and down lots of steps in the rain.  I would have probably wound up sitting on the bus.  Instead I shopped at the little pop-up shop in the terminal and nursed by sore muscle (which by the way is much better).

Tuesday, April 16 we docked in Fukouka, also on the island of Kyushu and the sixth largest city in Japan.  I did have a tour that day to the town of Arita.  Most of us have never heard of Arita but we may have heard the name Imari in connection with Japanese porcelain.  Imari is actually the place from which the porcelain is shipped; Arita is where these beautiful things are created. I have always had a thing about ceramics, pottery and porcelain so it was a no-brainer that I had to go to Arita.

The little town is an hour drive from Fukuoka in the nearby mountains.  Along the way we passed rice fields and farms. What makes this area so special is that  the mountains around here have a lot of stone with kaolin, a white clay stone that is used to make fine translucent porcelain.  We stopped first at a porcelain factory that has been in business for several hundred years.  The owner of the family greeted us.  He is 86 years old (the same age as the creator of the Spirited Garden the other day in Jeju) and he showed us around his little factory.  He spoke little English but he had a woman named Meari who told us about the place.  We went through the workshop where craftsmen were painting little plates which would then be fired in the kilns.  Another craftsman was taking soft clay and putting it into molds to make the plates. The kilns themselves were underground on a steep hill.

I must have had brain freeze because I didn't get the 86 year old man's name

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Maeri

A very stern looking craftsman

Plates soon to be sent to the kiln

Two platters in different stages of production

The things made in this factory were not as fine as some of the porcelain we saw later in the day but there was something I thought quite noteworthy and which ties into a historical thing about Kyushu Island and more specifically Nagasaki that I forgot to mention earlier.  In the 17th century Nagasaki was the only port from which Japan allowed foreign trade and somehow through the Dutch East Indies Company the Netherlands was the principal trading partner.  When I saw the porcelain made in this place the first thing I thought of was Delftware.  Many of the pieces had designs in the same kind of blue and white that I’ve seen often in Delft pieces.

We left the first factory and went for lunch in a local restaurant where we were served an exquisite meal of a variety of vegetables, fruits and seafood on the most beautiful dinnerware.  Each of our places was beautifully set and was really a work of art. I took a few photos to remember the lovely presentation.

After lunch we drove to what I thought was the absolute highlight of the day.  We went to the Fukagawa Porcelain factory.  This family has been involved in making porcelain for nearly 400 years and the present company was founded by the great-grandfather of the man who explained the work to us.  This company makes the dinnerware for the Japanese imperial family and has made pieces that have been presented to foreign heads of state, most recently to King Charles.  Mr. Fukagawa  had three vases  in various stages of production and explained the process to us.  I have to tell about one of my fellow travelers. After the explanation this man went up to Mr. Fukagawa and asked if the flowers and leaves on the vase were spray painted on.  We all stood there dumbfounded at the question but the Japanese man politely explained that each piece is hand painted in several different coats and after several firings in kilns.  I fell in love with some of the things there but I’m no longer in the market for fine china.  I guess that was a good thing.  After our tour and a chance to look through the museum and showroom, we drove back to Fukuoka through the lush countryside.  I ought to mention that everything is blooming here and my eyes, nose and throat have been watering and tickling.  Hello hay fever!   I realized when looking through my pictures that somehow I didn't take photos of any of the beautiful pieces.  I'm really mad at myself for that because I wanted to remember them.  Maybe I'll have to go back sometime.

Mr. Fukagawa with three vases

I forgot to mention that the night we were in Nagasaki we had local entertainers come on for a pre-dinner show.  It was a Taebo Drum band.  There were drummers as young as 8 years old and they were absolutely fantastic!  Additionally when we left from Nagasaki we had this delegation who came to bid us farewell.  Upon leaving Fukuoka we had the Fukuoka Fire Department band and baton twirlers playing for us as we sailed away.  How wonderful these people were!

The Nagasaki delegation

This and the next are the Taebo drummers

The Fukuoka Fire Department Band and twirlers