Day 1 in Japan

I am still thinking about all the wonderful experiences of my trip to Japan.  I have decided that I need to take a more structured approach to reflecting on these so am going to attempt to post some of the highlights in order.  I went with a group of people who were mainly Art Clay Instructors.  On day one of our visit we had a very interesting tour of the factory where the Aida Corporation reprocess a variety of products to recover the metals and from that, make art clay silver and other products.

We had a fully guided tour taking us step by step through a variety of processes.

After this we had lunch in the Museum in the historic park near to the factory.  This display is part of a festival for girls and we were told that every home would have a small version of something like this.

Joy Funnell and I had a rapid walk around the park and were able to enjoy some of the details in the beautifully designed tea garden.  The blossom was also really beautiful.

The park included a number of interesting buildings such as this small water mill

which had a stunning stand of bamboo behind it.

I then had a quick look around the museum itself.  Traditional and historic Japanese crafts were on display, everything was exhibited beautifully and I wish I had had more time to study some of the items.