Yamanaka

Several months ago I listened to an audio book called, “Water, Wood, and Wild Things,” by Hannah Kirschner. She is an American who came to Yamanaka and spent four years befriending the local craftspersons. Her book, telling of the people here and the crafts created here, inspired me to want to make Yamanaka a part of my trip.

Yamananaka is a small mountain town that is not well known to foreign tourists. Had I not listened to the book, I would not be here. So glad I came!

My two full days here could not have been more different. Yesterday, it rained buckets almost all day, and I mean big buckets! I took the bus into Yamanaka, which is a short bus trip from where I am staying and spent the afternoon holding an umbrella against the wind and the rain. I got soaked and was cold. There were few people on the streets and it looked every bit of gloomy and deserted.

Today felt like the real first day of autumn in Japan. It was sunny, clear, cool, and windy. Yamanaka was brimming with life.

I walked the streets and along the beautiful pathway by the Daishoji river running through the Kakusenkei gorge.

That would have been pleasure enough – the town, the weather, the people. Then, as I am interested in woodworking, I looked up the wood carving craftspersons and found one who was offering to allow people to turn their own bowls, with help, of course. To my surprise, I found Mr. Sato at Mokume who had a slot open in the afternoon. I walked to his shop, which happened to be across the street from where I was Google searching, and he let me know that I could, indeed, come back a bit later and do the work. I was delighted!

We agreed on the bowls that I wanted and we began the work. Truthfully, he guided me in using the lathe tools but, still, for the three bowls, I had a hand in shaping them and that will always be in my memory when I see them.

This would be my own hand getting ready to be a wood turning craftsman. It was great fun feeling the turn of the lathe beneath the blade of the tools. Working with wood is always such a pleasure. While I’ve never done this kind of wookworking before, I still felt the pleasure of the look, feel, and smell of the wood; the shavings flying off and creating more of a pile on his floor.

These two beginnings of bowls are “my” creation. One more to go. But, full disclosure, Mr. Sato will do the real work of carving out the inside of the bowls, hand-sanding, and applying the finishing coatings. This will take a few months to complete and then he will send them to me in Seattle. For a bit of cost, it also saves me having to carry them around Japan for the next seven weeks.

Here are my three bowls. Actually, the smallest one is hardly a bowl but will be more of a small tea cup.

Mr. Sato, the craftsman, in his shop.

Part of the jumble.

I will leave Yamanaka tomorrow with fond memories. It is small town Japan, off of the tour bus routes, and happily accessible for those with the inspiration to add it to their itinerary to a land that is becoming less imagination and more reality.