TacoCat’s Travels #101 (Japan 4.0: Fukuoka): Arita Pottery History!...

Hey Hive/Steemit!

So if you didn't catch the last couple of posts, we're currently on a journey in Fukuoka that we went on back in May 2017! Neither of us had ever been to that part of Japan before and since there were some cheap flights we decided to go explore a new region together! Here we go!

Last week, which was also my #100 travel post (crazy!), we started our journey to Arita Porcelain Park! It was quite a ways away from Hakata City but it was worth it because when we got there it was like we were transported into a whole new world!

I ended off the post after we looked at this magnificent replica of the Zwinger - a famous palace in Germany! So let's carry on with exploring more of the park!

26 May 2017. Friday.

So actually other than the Zwinger replica, most of the park is pretty run-down and definitely felt abandoned. Not too far from where I took the shot above was this shabby-looking coop with a whole bunch of duckies!

Granted they were cute, but most of it was unfortunately flooded, so it definitely didn't look like anyone was really taking care of it.

There was also what looked like a small abandoned village just down the path from the coop.

There was no one around and not a human sound could be heard, which was kinda eerie. If it wasn't bright out it could definitely be the set of a horror movie for sure.

It felt so different being here compared to the other side of the palace, where there was the whole German fairytale village motif. We weren't even sure if this village was part of the park still, but this wall proved it.

The pictures show the ceramic production process depicting craftsmen in the Sarayama section of Arita. And according to the description, this was actually taken from a large underglaze cobalt blue decorated plate! They must have recreated the pictures to make it look this huge. But it would've been cool to see the plate itself as well!

The scenery there was definitely beautiful though! It had been a while since we'd been immersed in such nature, after being in the city for so long (esp in the urban jungle that is Singapore).

So we enjoyed our time outdoors, breathing in that nice fresh air and relishing in the natural silence. It also helped me feel less creeped out in this abandoned village.

But walking onwards, I realised they must have built this village on purpose, as part of the park's exhibits. Because there were info boards up with information about the history of Arita porcelain (or Aritayaki). For example, this one explains the jars from or Aritayaki porcelain are called Suikinko. It didn't really relate to the buildings though, so I was still a little confused.

There was also this building that looked super run down.

The sign reads Noborigama - this kiln is a reproduction of the kiln from the Tengudani Kiln Site in Arita. Lee Cham-Pyung, a Korean potter who is said to have started porcelain production for the first time in Japan in the early 17th century, fired ceramics at the Tengudani Kiln.

I'm not sure if the piles of stuff around the building was intentional, but after looking around, we promptly went back towards the palace and took more photos!

At least there weren't any people around to photobomb our shots this time!

Now I think in the original Zwinger, the adjoining hallways on either side of the main gate were long galleries probably with priceless artworks hanging on the walls. This art collection was fortunately evacuated before the carpet bombing raids in 1945 that destroyed the first Zwinger. Reconstruction began that very same year though, supported by the Soviet military administration, and was completed by 1963. (Cr: Wiki)

But in this replica version, the long hallways on either side of the gate was actually the gallery for Arita Porcelain!

Unfortunately, admission was not free to go in and see the pottery though, and since neither of us were that interested in pottery to justify spending 1000yen for just a couple minutes of mild curiousity, we just took a look from the entrance.

We started heading back towards the entrance of the park since we saw some interesting stuff there, like a swingset!

But also this huge (but incomplete) chess set and the Arita Museum!

Here's the guide of the park btw. I think by then we covered most of it already except the gift shop, so we set out to find it.

Walking through this part of the village was a lot more inviting since there were actual signs of civilisation here.

Not that much though, as we were one of the few guests there.

The sign describes Tombai Walls, which is sqaure brick made of red clay used to cover the inside walls of the Noborigama kilns. After the kilns were destroyed, the bricks were pressed with red clay to build Tombai Walls.

We did see a couple more ducks roaming around over here though. Ironically I think we saw more ducks than people at this park!

We eventually found our way to the gift shop and man, there was so much merch here!

As usual, there were snacks galore, but there were some really expensive genuine Arita porcelain that you could buy and bring home. We avoided this area though since we were really scared of breaking anything.

Nothing really caught our eye though, and these gift shops tend to be a tourist trap anyway so we didn't buy anything. We did see the other tourists here though, as expected.

Outside, we saw this odd contraption with Arita porcelain bells. I'm not sure what they're for though other than looking nice. Maybe if the wind was strong enough they would ring.? But porcelain is pretty heavy so I wasn't sure if they would even swing in the wind.

The sun lit up the palace is such a lovely way I couldn't help taking a pic:

After that, I think we had trouble going back towards the station so we asked around and managed to get a number from the staff to call a cab to come and pick us up. FYI the station is about 5km away so there was no way we could walk back.

We spent some time exploring the area around the station and found ourselves near the tourist information centre, which actually looked super cool!

It was modelled after a converted shipping container! And at an angle nonetheless!

But inside it was actually really cozy, and there was a cafe attached to it, and we headed in to rest our feet for a bit.

At the cafe we got a look at the Arita Tourism Guide Map and man, this place actually has so many cool sights to see! Too bad there was really no way to explore it unless you drove, or rode a bike I guess. Neither of which was in our capacity so we decided to just head back to Fukuoka since it was getting late anyway.