Life in Fukuoka, Japan: Imari - Porcelain Village

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Imari - Porcelain Village

Imari

February 10, 2013

Today Aki (the wonderful music teacher at my school) took Mark and myself as well as Brooke and Santi to Imari. Imari Okawachiyama is the “Village of the secret kilns”. Okawachiyama is enclosed on three sides by mountains. So many people called I the Village of the Secret Kilns. The view of the picturesque mountains and streams was simply breathtaking. The bamboo and cedar forest that we could see made you feel like you were so far away from a bustling city. Imari is about one and a half hours away from Fukuoka.

The weather was perfect. It was sunny with a slight breeze. In the shade it was chilly, but what a difference from Friday were it was snowing on and off all day. Imari is a porcelain village. There are shops upon shops upon shops of porcelain. The porcelain pieces ranges from chopstick holders, sake cups, decorative plates, vase and so much more. The prices were…hmmmmm…how do I say this? Some of the items were SO expensive. I found one vase that had irises painted on it; the price was over 100,000 yen. Then I found a butterfly plate (picture below) that was on sale for 525,000 yen. For those of you in the states, 10,000 yen is about $120 depending on the exchange rate. Now think how much it is for 525,000 yen. I only wish I had money to throw around for a plate. Everything is hand painted and many items are hand made, too.

Once we finished shopping we had a little picnic lunch. We all brought some delicious food to share. I do have to say that Aki brought such a good assortment of food for us. She was so kind to take us on our adventure. She has a mind like mine, she loves Trader Joe’s!

I have several photos from the trip.

Enjoy!