I’ve put together the things I picked up at the Arita Ceramics Fair, mostly for the record. Nothing special… though.
A plate with a soft bluish tint
I impulse-bought this to serve my stir-fried chicken breast with vegetables -_- on, but once I had it I realized I could never use it for that. Looks like it’s doomed to sit in the display cabinet and just be looked at… ah, what a timid guy I am… If I ever do put food on it… I think Western dishes would suit it. (Or maybe a pajeon?)
Mount Fuji rice bowl
I bought it because it looked pretty, but it’s not very practical, sadly. I suspect this one will end up as a gift for relatives.
A cheap but lovely ginga-yu (galaxy glaze) sake cup
The subtle color gives it a classy feel.
This one’s the same model in a different color
They say it looks even prettier once you pour sake into it, so I’ll have to use it someday.
Animal cup
There were cats, mice, rabbits and so on, but I bought the crocodile, the cutest of the lot. It’s silky smooth to the touch. It manages to be both classy and cute, and apparently it even won some award. There’s a rabbit drawn on the bottom. I thought this would make a nice gift too… or rather, it was just another impulse buy, and since I have no use for it myself, I’ll probably end up giving it to someone.
The cups are made by a studio called Atelier MUQ. If you go to their official site below, you can see their other works, though the image quality is poor. Getting to discover and experience wonderful pieces like these made this trip all the more meaningful, because it opened my eyes to the world of ceramics. Which I guess means one more thing to spend money on, sigh.
http://www.d2.dion.ne.jp/~muq/index.htm
But checking now, the prices on their website are a little higher than what I paid. About 20%… Seeing and buying in person really was the way to go.
Mount Fuji beer cup
When I bought the Mount Fuji rice bowl, they threw in two of these cups as a clearance freebie. Xie xie… though thinking about it, I still feel like I got ripped off…
Aosumi-nagare rice bowl
I bought it to hold brown rice… but again, it looks like I’ll have to be content just looking at it.
Soy sauce dish
For some reason, seeing a dish like this makes me want to cook something like kaiseki. The only option is to lock it away so the urge doesn’t hit.
A cup for oyuwari, imo shochu cut with hot water
I’ve been hooked on oyuwari lately, so I bought this. I bought it for the pretty color, but again, I think I got ripped off… Even when you fall for something you should still haggle, but I haven’t reached that level yet. I was going to work up the nerve and try it this time, but it was so hot I just gave up.
This is a 100-yen sake cup.
I bought these as omiyage. Even at 100 yen, it’s Arita ware, so it’s well made.
A 100-yen plate
It’d be nice for putting drinking snacks on.
Chopsticks
Since I’d bought rice bowls, I got new chopsticks too. Not bad, I suppose?
Hozan’s genshu, Ayamurasaki
It’s a genshu (undiluted shochu) made from purple sweet potatoes, around 38% alcohol. It’s too strong to drink straight, so I bought it thinking it’d be tasty as oyuwari. Come to think of it, I also bought sets of sake cups this time, so there’s now nothing stopping me from drinking alone at home -_- I’m a little worried I’ll pick up a habit of pouring for myself…
Vase
I meant to buy a sake flask, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a vase, sadly. Apparently it only counts as a tokkuri if there’s a pouring lip at the neck… Well, I already have one tokkuri at home, so I can live without it. For now it’s decorating my room, but I expect it’ll get adopted by someone at some point.
So that was my little shopping spree, but if I get the chance, I’d like to go back and -_- kit out my home with whole sets. Before that, I’d better save up some money…