Livin' the McDream: My Parents' Visit - Part 3

My parents' third day in Japan was another great one! We went to Mt. Zao, a little southwest of Sendai and also happened across a tiny kokeshi doll shop in Togatta with a very welcoming artist and his wife. Very nice people!

Mt. Zao is the western marker, Togatta is the point east of Zao.

Late breakfast/early lunch before leaving
Sendai...this was the most delicious
subway sandwich I've ever had! Yum!
Dad tried the McDonald's, pretty much
the same as at home, except in my
opinion better because the employees
take pride in making everything perfectly.

Lots of bike parking everywhere,
usually they're ridden on the sidewalks.

Mt. Zao started out as a major disappointment, but ended up being breathtaking! The drive from Sendai was about an hour and most of it was driving up into a cloud. Not good for seeing a lake inside of a volcanic crater...

GPS coordinates: 38.128217, 140.446054

Zao is part of a mountain range along the border of Miyagi and Yamagata Prefectures. Okama Crater is a big attraction during the summer months. The crater has a lake that can appear to change color multiple times in a day. The road up to the peaks is called Zao Echo Line and supposedly has an amazing view...we wouldn't know :( The road is only open late spring-late autumn. Zao's elevation is 1,841 meters (6,040 feet), I know, I know, not that crazy compared to say, oh, any mountain in Colorado, but when you're ascending from sea level into clouds it does seem kinda high. When we got to Mt. Kattadake, which is the closest peak to the crater and is at the end of the short toll road, we couldn't really see anything and it was drizzling. No sign of a beautiful color-changing lake anywhere. Sigh. We continued to wander around hopeful that maybe there'd be a break in the clouds. We got lucky. Real lucky. We could tell by the "Ahhhhh's" we were hearing that we needed to take another look. Sure enough, the crater slowly came into view, and it was AMAZING. One of the most beautiful natural sights I've seen in my life. We hiked up a bit toward the peak of Zao to get a better view. It didn't last long, but so thankful that we got a glimpse!

Komakusa Flat Observatory. This was a little before the
toll road to the crater. We couldn't see anything but clouds
from this "observatory"...name only applies on clear days!

Stacked rocks...I think it's related to Buddhism,
but I don't remember for sure.

I guess the crater is out there somewhere???
Water depth is 30 meters.
Crater diameter is 330 meters.

Beautiful Okama Crater in the background.
Haha

There it is!!!

I didn't need to include this one, but my hair is awesome!

You can see it a little better in this picture of them!

And just like that the view was gone again. Keenan and I hiked up a little path from the visitor center area to see what else we could find. There was a shrine and a mountain hut.

The sign was funny. Looked like the bear had hind
legs that weren't working right.

Checking out the winter entrance/exit.

We felt very fortunate as we headed back to the car. Who knows, maybe the few minutes we saw Okama Crater were the only minutes it was visible all day? We had some yummy peach ice cream before we started our drive to Misawa...in the rain. The rain subsided as we drove off the mountain and we had sunny skies the rest of the way.

As we drove through the little village to Togatta I saw a house/store with a picture of a kokeshi doll in the window. I convinced Keenan to turn around so we could stop in. So glad we did! Mom and I got out of the car leaving behind my camera and phone. We thought it would be a quick stop...

"The Kokeshi originated in the Tohoku area and were at first toy dolls for children to hold. They can be traced to the wooden toys, such as spinning tops, which were made from leftover materials of bowls and trays crafted by the Kijishi, or wood craftsmen. In the Meiji Period (1868-1912), many people enjoyed visiting hot springs in the Tohoku area, and would take back with them presents for their children - wooden toys for the boys and the girls. In this way the Kokeshi became popular throughout the whole of Japan. The Kokeshi of different areas all vary in body and head shape, pattern and style, and the techniques of producing these dolls have been handed down through the generations, from father to son and master to apprentice, to produce the 'traditional kokeshi' of the present day. In the course of time the Kokeshi has been transformed from simply a toy for children into an artistically important craft for adults."

As we entered the dark, tiny, dusty, cluttered shop we immediately saw kokeshi dolls everywhere, probably hundreds of them, and also many pictures, medals and trophies. I assumed the artist was very well recognized for his work. Some of the dolls were different styles so it was hard to say which were for sale and which were part of a private collection. There are 11 traditional styles of Kokeshi dolls, I haven't been able to distinguish them all because some are very similar.

There was no one in sight (not unusual in Japan), and soon an elderly lady appeared and began speaking things we obviously couldn't understand. At first I thought she was asking us to come into another room, then I thought she was asking us to wash our hands, eventually I caught on that we were supposed to wait where we were...after a few minutes an elderly man came back with her. He was dressed neatly and looked like his hair was freshly combed. He was the man in the pictures, the kokeshi doll artist! Mr. Sato (as we found out later) said "konnichiwa" and we were able to find out how much he was charging for the dolls. We each picked one and handed him the money. He didn't really seem to care as he just set it down on a table and went right over to his workbench. A piece of wood was placed on the lathe and he started it spinning. Quickly, he started forming a shape with precise movements of his tools. We couldn't tell what it was going to be. Eventually he motioned for me to get closer and handed me a paintbrush. Guiding my hand with his he helped me paint more stripes on the wood while he still spun it on the lathe. After it was painted he polished it with some sort of straw and finished off the piece. It was a top. It spun perfectly when he tested it the first time. He handed it to me and said "presento."

Here's the video of our experience in the shop!

By this time we figured the guys were probably wondering what had happened to us. Mom walked up the street to get them. When she got back the artist was busy making something else at his workbench. This one ended up being another top, painted to look like an eggplant. He gave that one to Mom as a present. I know almost every single person we encounter is friendly, but to go completely out of his way to make us things and inviting me to help paint one was completely unexpected and awesome! When Dad and Keenan came into the shop they were also surprised by the dark, cluttered place. The man picked up a doll bigger than those that Mom and I had purchased and handed it to Dad as a "presento." So generous. As his wife carefully wrapped and packaged each of our things he rummaged through some drawers to find a teeny tiny doll about 1 inch tall. He handed it to me as another gift. So cute! I am continually amazed and thankful for the kindness and generosity we encounter on our adventures.

She didn't want her picture taken, so glad we convinced her!
They were so sweet!

The artist gave us a piece of paper with a description of the origins of kokeshi (see quote above) and also his biography which is as follows:

"Kichiya Sato II (Tetsuro Sato) of the Kichirobei Family - Continuator of the famous Togatta Branch of traditional kokeshi making.

Togatta in Miyagi prefecture, at the eastern foot of Mt. Zao, famous for its hot spa, is the birthplace and major production center of 'Togatta Kokeshi.' Here, about twenty craftsmen are engaged in the making of kokeshi, among them the master craftsman Mr. Tetsuro Sato, the master of 'Kuji-ya.' Mr. Sato was born in Togatta in 1932, the second son of Kichiya I and his uncle Kichinosuke, both great craftsmen and began to learn the flower design at 13, and body and head shaping at 15. Mr. Sato assumed the name Kichiya Sato II in 1987, and is today well known as a craftsman of the highest order. His kokeshi are distinguished by their smoothly planed finish and the fluent lines of the patterning, the result of techiques inherited from his uncle, and further the dolls are recognized as presenting a combination of the grace of his gentleman's work and the vigour found in the dolls made by Mr. Sato's father. Tetsuro Sato sees himself not as a 'doll-maker,' but as a craftsman creating works of art, and these works, alive with the honesty and friendliness of their creator, have endeared themselves to the hearts of many people in many countries."

And after that awesome experience we headed toward Misawa (for real this time) no more stops! It was about a 5 hour drive and we got back to base just in time to catch the base's Lights on the Lake fireworks from our back patio. Great day!