Karatsu

First real day of the trip.  We were out of the hotel by 9 o'clock and off for the train to Karatsu.  The temperature was in the high 40s and clear as a bell.

The train ride to Karatsu was along the coast and some views along the way were quite scenic.  Frequently, though, it is incredible how ugly the modern, character-less, post-war buildings and utility lines everywhere can be.  And it seems so incongruous in a country that is otherwise so focused on aestherics.  We arrived in Karatsu and got a ride to our ryokan - Yoyokaku.

Having missed breakfast, we immediately set out to see Karatsu and find something to eat.  Having "done" the town, we both felt a little sorry for Karatsu.  One of the guidebooks refers to its depopulation and how that has resulted in Karatsu failing to deliver on its promise as the tourist destination it once was.  There was a hangdog, downtrodden feel to the city.  Many businesses closed down, no real vibrant commercial feel.  We even had a little trouble finding a place to eat, although we ended up at a nice little place where we had okonomiyaki (a cross between an omelet and a pancake, which we had with squid and shrimp).

But things picked up.  We visited an exhibition at a kiln/gallery of Nakazato Taroemon, a famous potter who is the 13th in a line of potters in his family.  His son is 14th.  Karatsu is still noted for its pottery and the pieces we saw were beautiful.  Next stop was the Exhibition Hall, where they keep these totally cool floats that are used in a parade in the Festival of the Karatsu Shrine each November.  The various neighborhoods of Karatuse are responsible for the floats, which were built in the mid-19th century, and they field a bunch of volunteers to operate it during this three-day festival.

Finally, we visited a beautiful residence of an industrialist that is now owned by the city and operated as a museum.  A tour guide attached himself to us and began to give us the tour in good, but a little broken, English.  As we moved along and he heard Andrea's Japanese, the tour quickly became a Japanese language one with Andrea occasionally leaning over to let me know what was going on!  Seriously, he was very proud of the house, and gave the tour enthusiastically.  It is really amazing to see these beautiful homes with such a clean aesthetic and totally devoid of clutter (indeed, with in many cases no furniture to speak of) - one can only wonder the simple way in which they lived.

We walked back to the ryokan, making it back by 4:30 - a full afternoon.