Izumi-City, JP

Izumi-City, JP

Sunday, 09. March 2014

As long as you stick to the rules, it’s quite simple to get a visa for Japan. However as we checked in, we realised that we had forgotten to book our flights out of Japan. We were left with half an hour in which we had to research flights, fill in data and buy the tickets, so that we were allowed to enter Japan. In the end it all worked out and the rest of the day ran smoothly. Upon arrival at the airport we followed the instructions that we had been given by our contact, Takeshi Tsujino, who runs his studio ‘Fresco’ in the countryside near Osaka. After two buses, we got off in the village of Izumi, where we were met by somebody from the studio who drove us there. They were still busy blowing glass and gave us a warm welcome with a feast of octopus, which lasted into the night. The next day we met Takeshi and arranged to stay a bit longer than we had initially planned.

As Takeshi lived in America for five years, his English is very good. One of his staff also speaks English very well and the others know enough for us to communicate with them, and at the same time learning a bit of Japanese. Watashi tachi wa ninenkan sekai ryoko shitemas – we are travelling around the world for two years.

Here they produce very fine functional glassware, which also sits well with ceramics. Twice a week, they run courses for beginners and intermediates and also have a café. As well as the standard range, Takeshi also produces his own individual pieces.

We helped with all the different processes and got some time to make glass for ourselves. We really enjoyed the icy cold but beautifully sunny spring days. Tomorrow we’ll pack up again and go back to the big city of Osaka.