Day 3 in Japan

On the morning of day 3 of the Japan visit a number of the group decided we would like to walk from the hotel to the Aida factory.  I am really pleased that I did as I got to see far more than on the previous day's car ride.

This is very close to the hotel in Fuchu.

We had a quick look into the precinct of this substantial temple complex.

Even things like the drain or manhole covers and the tops of bollards were beautifully decorated and I loved the detail of the doorbell and security entry to a house we passed.  For our afternoon tea break Dice (Daisuke Minagawa) brought us these sweet treats to share.  They were sort of soft and slightly chewy and each one had a different flavour of filling.  I didn't try them all but of those I tried the pale one was my favourite, filled with some kind of soft cream cheese I think.  We had an introduction and overview of the new projects for the Art Clay certification course before making either a bee or spider.

At the end of the day some of the technical staff and artists from the factory came up and we all joined in the discussions of various pieces of work we had taken in to show them.  It was a very interesting exchange of ideas although Dice had to work really hard translating all the questions and answers.