Shigaraki National Ceramics Park

Sunday's breakfast was my last meal in Kyoto. I decided to have a Japanese traditional breakfast, at my Ryokan, and it was quite formidable.The ladies of the house gave me several departure gifts, and were quite nice seeing me off. I loved staying in this traditional inn and the paper thin walls were only a problem on the last morning, as some fellow travellers didn't realize that voices carry in a ryokan. I bumped into a couple getting out of the traditional bath that morning, all blissed out.

So, goodbye Kyoto and a brief hello to the city of Otsu, where I quickly dropped off my suitcase and moved on to Shigaraki, a couple of hours into the mountains. This pottery town is well know for its beaver pottery (more on this when I upload the pictures) and the art complex has an artist in residence program as well as a gallery where I saw a very good exhibit.

http://www.sccp.or.jp/Win/English/index.html

Before heading to Shigaraki cultural park and the 3 mile round trip hike, I visited the community centre where there is a historic exhibit, and across the street I purchased some pottery tools :-)

The weather was lousy, it rained quite a bit, so an early night is in order. Tomorrow, I am planning to take it easy (?) and perhaps do a boat ride on Lake Biwa.

Sayanora everyone