Ceramics, Sushi, and Sightseeing with Trip2Japan
The news on TV in Japan is often about food, cultural events, cherry blossoms or fall color, and art in Japan. Being in Japan is like exhaling, getting away from day-to-day stress, and thoroughly enjoying a different world. A place where attention is spent on every detail, rituals and customs preserved for centuries, contrasted with neon, moving crab signs, and anime.
Ceramics in Japan are remarkable. So much of our American studio experiences are influenced by Japanese pottery thanks to Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, as well as others. In most studios in the US, we have shino, temmoku, Zen decorations, and forms affected by the Japanese style. We’ve all been aware and influenced by the Japanese aesthetic, but going to Japan and encountering the culture firsthand is a life-changing experience beyond the pottery.
Japan is a beautiful country; the Japanese people are incredibly kind, generous, caring, polite, mild-mannered, and talented. When visiting studios, the masters generously share their time and processes. They are very hospitable. In their exciting cities, they are packed with so much to see and do that it’s difficult to narrow down the choices. Outside the metropolitan cities, the landscape is mountainous and green, featuring stunning waterfalls and charming towns. Japan is extremely clean; the toilets are amazing, and the food is extraordinary. It’s “edible sculpture on a plate.” Often, restaurants use handmade pottery, making the dishes even more appealing.
Trip2Japan, run by Sheri Leigh O’Connor, specializes in tours entitled “Ceramics, Sushi, and Sightseeing”. We visit pottery towns where we meet potters in their studios, see their kilns, often wood-fired, and learn about their techniques. We also visit museums, galleries, temples and shrines, and have tea ceremonies to experience the whole of Japan. The history and rituals are incredible.
The two-week tours, which vary each time, go to pottery towns in Japan such as Arita, Bizen, Echizen, Mashiko, Seto, Shigaraki, Tajimi, Tamba, and Tokoname. We take day trips from Nagoya or Kyoto vs staying a few nights here and there. Over the years, I have met wonderful tour guides who make arrangements to visit numerous places, and I have met talented people who generously host our group. They have beautiful displays with their ware that are very difficult to resist.
I got started taking tours to Japan while teaching ceramics at Sierra Nevada University. In 2013, I was invited to Japan with two other ceramic professors, with the hope that we would bring our students to Japan. I was thrilled to arrange student trips, which later expanded to trips offered to the public. Now, as a professor emerita, I’m so happy to be an “ARTrepreneur” with my company, Trip2Japan.
It’s mind-blowing to meet a multi-generation family of potters or other craftspeople whose ancestors have lived and worked in the same location for centuries. There are many pottery towns in Japan where this is the case as well as six ancient kilns, (which is really referring to the towns at large), that have been producing traditional Japanese forms for more than 1,000 years. “The term was coined by a historic ceramics scholar, Fujio Koyama, in 1948, and the Six Ancient Kilns were designated as Japan Heritage sites in 2017.” (link)
In November, 2025, the tour will go to all six ancient kiln towns in this order: Seto, Tokoname, Echizen, Tamba, Shigaraki, and Bizen, as well as Tajimi – known for Mino Ware, and tours in Osaka and Kyoto. On the last day, we’ll go to the Toji Market in Kyoto which is full of vendors selling yummy food, vintage and antique Japanese items, used kimonos and jackets at hard to believe low prices, gorgeous scroll paintings, and yes, pottery.
In addition to pottery towns, we also visit iconic temples, castles, and shrines in places such as Nara, Nikko, and Kyoto. We go to museums and galleries to get a sense of historical as well as contemporary work in Japan. One favorite in Kyoto is the Robert Yellin gallery which is located on the Philosopher’s Path. During the April tour, the canal was pink with a huge cluster of petals from the Cherry Trees lining the path in full bloom. Robert Yellin generously shares all kinds of information about the work and Japanese ceramics in his beautiful gallery, which is filled with both Japanese historic pottery as well as contemporary ceramic work.
Each day is filled with a variety of activities like those already mentioned, as well as a few hands-on workshops in different mediums such as: clay, indigo dyeing, basket making, Shodo (Japanese calligraphy), making Japanese sweets, or jewelry. I thoroughly enjoy researching various locations where I meet new, talented people, and planning with tour guides, including transportation, activities, and meals. We travel around Japan by Shinkansen (bullet trains) and by charter bus during the tour days.
Trip2Japan also does custom tours for groups and schools, which are focused on their interests and planned according to what they would like to see and experience in Japan.
For more information about upcoming tours, please visit Trip2Japan.com
