This is a story about a curry-rice plate got broken because of spicy cod roe.
The plate owner Arase (a good friend of mine) visited Koishiwara with me in 2018. She was the interviewee for our pottery town story at Taketombo. At Marudai Kiln, she interviewed the Ota family and even got to experience the signature Koishiwara tobikanna (chattering tool) at the potter's wheel.
At the end of our gathering, she chose a ceramics plate from Marudai Kiln and told me Mr. Ota made the plate for curry rice, he detailed the lip with a slight in-fold so it makes scooping the saucy rice very easy without spilling over the edge. Arase said her husband loves curry rice and she will bring it back to Tokyo as a souvenir.
As we all head to the airport to return to Tokyo, she kept her brand new curry rice plate in her tote bag. At the airport shop, Arase got excited seeing Fukuoka's famous edible souvenir "spicy cod roe", "Spicy Cod Roe!! Must buy!" She swung her body and tote bag with the plate inside smashed into the corner of a store fixture. We heard the sound of ceramics breaking and she froze for a few seconds. Of course spicy cod roe shopping proceeded, with a tote bag full of ceramics shards.
At the airport, Arase was so appalled that she could not even let me unwrap the newspaper to check. I said, "Don't worry, I'll fix it as long as you give me time." And I took over the newspaper bundle. "Well, no special curry rice plate for husband." She said, "Maybe next time we return to Koishiwara, I can get another one. I love the pottery village." Then we parted.
Later, I reviewed the damage and sent her a photo. "Are you sure you want to fix this?" "Sure, why not!" In total, I think Arase owned the plate for about 3 hours.
That was April 2018.
I started the repair work. 2018-2019 happened to be 2 nomadic years, covering over 3000km domestically in Japan and close to 80 thousand km outside of the country. Every now and then I would sent Arase a message telling her the restoration is SLOWLYYYY progressing... until she completely forgot about it. For me, I have to hand-carry it every time I move to a new town so it has always been on my to-do list. Kintsugi not only a slow-craft, but also something that is not very suitable for a nomad. (Too much movement and temperature change is a bad thing in urushi craft world). LOL.
Then came 2020.
The world stopped. Borders closed. The nomad got stuck. During Japan's never-ending State of Emergencies, I signed a lease and settled in. Traveling for few more thousand kilometers moving cross prefectures, and finally in 2021, I benefitted from being stationed in 1 single location. With 4 un-interrupted months, the plate became a plate again.
Where is the drama? There is none. No wabi-sabi philosophy, no romance. The spicy cod roe never felt the guilt and it's still as popular as an edible souvenir. This is just a simple repair report. There is more pleasure than pain or complaints (maybe an occasional back pain). Being able to sit down and focus on one project is a luxury. Holding cat-hair brushes instead of clicking a blue-tooth mouse is pleasurable (minus the risk of getting severe dermatitis allergy from touching raw urushi lacquer). And the biggest fulfillment is being able to control your breathing, hold your hand steady and witness something beautiful came out of it. Sounds like a sniper's job without death.
3 years and 3 months later.
The curry rice plate is ready to meet its 3-hour-owner, who probably forgot about even owning it. For sure it will bring back sweet travel memories, and the humble utilitarian-ware, now as utilitarian as before, will probably assume a new journey on its own beyond containing curry rice. Curious if it will continue to service the curry world.
Note* Repair of this size usually take about 2-3 months (not 3 years), although a lacquer artisan I met did spent 3 years to coat a wood bento box with urushi.
Thank you for spending 2-minutes of your time, if your find the story not sentimental or dramatic enough, that sounds about right. We are announcing our new kintsugi page There is no healing philosophy, no life-coaching or self-improvement therapy.
We just talk Slow C-R-A-F-T.
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