This Friday I went on a trip with one of my Japanese Culture classes to see Hasami Pottery. We went to a museum/workspace where you can see the history of pottery in Japan and make your own pottery. When we first arrived we were given a tour of the museum portion after setting our bags down on a table near where the pottery is made. Our tour guide spoke a decent amount of English and made a commendable effort to explain everything in English.
After the tour was over we all went back to where our bags were and watched a demonstration on how to make the pottery. We were then each given aprons and seated at 1 of 6 available stations where we worked to mold a bit of clay into a cup, bowl, or plate. The clay was placed on a spinning wheel that’s speed could be manipulated with a small petal on the right side of the wheel. We were told to spin the wheel at about half speed. Once the wheel was spinning we would wet our hands to weaken the clay slightly and make it easier to mold into whatever we wanted to make. After we finished we would remove our creation from the wheel and wash our hands. Overall it was a solid experience albeit a bit expensive as it clocks in at ¥3700.