Chow Chow Charles

So this is still ongoing, and this has been haunting me for more than a month. This doggie’s legs kept falling off.

My friend then told me it was because the humidity of the body and the legs were different. As the body was too dry, and the legs too wet, after I’ve attached them, the body dragged the humidity out too fast, thus causing cracks and then falling off.

After a few tries of keeping the body really wet and letting the piece “dry” really slowly (essentially letting it sit in a humid box for a week), the legs seem to be staying…it’s now ready for the final glaze firing. I hope the Chow-Chow will be ok and the legs will keep because this one is supposed to be a gift to a colleague who’s retiring soon.

Pokémon x Kogei Exhibition

Full name of exhibition: Pokémon x Kogei | Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft.

Link: https://kogei.pokemon.co.jp/en/

Museum website: https://www.sagawa-artmuseum.or.jp

When I first heard about this exhibition, I really wanted to go, and apparently it was in the US. Then after some more searching, it was going to Japan. And it just so happened, as I had already plans to go to Osaka and Kyoto, I found out the exhibition was in Shiga, which was very near to Kyoto.

If anyone so happens to be in the area, please find my travel plan for this place at the end of the post. First, some photos to enjoy! There were ceramic pieces, pottery, cloth, lacquerware, wood. It was an amazing experience.

Getting there: Sagawa Art Museum is a little far off, staying just across the road from the side of Lake Biwa. I saw some hotels nearby the museum but they looked more like resort hotels.

The tickets are strictly sold online. JPY 1300 per person, and you have to reserve your visiting time as well. You can probably do that all in one day but I wasn’t exactly sure of the way when I was planning, so I decided on the staying the night. For your reference, my travel route is as follows:

From Kyoto, I took the JR Biwako Line to a stop called Moriyama 守山. The trip took around 30 minutes.

I stayed a night at Vessel Inn Shiga-Moriyama https://www.vessel-hotel.jp/en/inn/moriyama/

The hotel is situated just next to the train station. I did not know it at the time, but apparently, the bus stop for the bus that would go to Sagawa Art Museum is just exactly at the entrance to the hotel building.

Early the next morning, I had a breakfast (buy breakfast voucher from the hotel front desk), and after eating, just walk out to Bus Stop 1. Take the Ohmi Railway Bus 木の浜線, and it takes roughly 35 minutes or 25 stops to reach the museum.

The ladies at the entrance of the museum gave me a schedule of the return bus as well, so I could plan how much time to spend in the museum. Apart from the Pokémon exhibit, there are 3 other exhibitions as well.

Hand built cat bowl

I remember this one very well. This was after my first round of the beginner course and Master S had us make something, anything, with any technique. I didn’t want to make coils, so I decided to hand-build. Didn’t exactly enjoy that. And now I have a super heavy, seemingly unbreakable bowl, haha!