A little while back, my host mother and I went to Nagoya Dome’s Yakimono World event. Yakimono translates to ceramic pottery. So in short, this was a ceramic and pottery fair held in the very large and very impressive Nagoya Dome. Usually, baseball games are held here, but as the baseball season has just passed, Nagoya Dome is now opens to events like this and future concerts (Arashi, for one, will be performing here next month).

I went with okaasan, but our main purpose was to see her ikebana sensei’s masterpiece (the one who helped me make that Christmas wreath!). He had strung up a stunning piece in the middle of the Dome that consisted of 1,110 obis. (Obis are those thick bands that are tied around kimonos.) There were obis of every color there, with more  designs than I could ever even imagine. It was truly a fantastic piece.

Not only that, but there was another stunning piece of ikebana underneath it. There was a large silver tree with crooked, extending branches that had more obi hung on it, as well as various flowers around it. All done by hand by Ogawa sensei, and all very beautiful and stunning.

 I wish I had more pictures of the yakimono itself, but as most of the pottery was hand-made, no pictures were allowed, but it was a very interesting experience. It definitely reflected a lot of Japanese aesthetics and what is considered artistic and beautiful here in this country.

Location: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan