Mashiko Pottery Town & Utsunomiya City

This is the grand finale of our big Tochigi Prefecture adventure.

At the end of the last post we had arrived at Mashiko train station. From there we walked to the Mashiko Pottery Cooperative Selling Center Website

When you see the giant Tanuki you know you have arrived.

The Mashiko Pottery Cooperative Selling Center is a great place for visitors to start. The cooperative has pottery from all the local makers making it easy for one stop shopping. On weekends and holidays this place can get pretty crowded. 

After visiting the Selling Center we walked along the Jonaizaka-dori (main street through the center of town). The Jonaizaka-dori is lined on both sides of the street with beautiful pottery shops. There are also nice clean public restrooms every so often. This shop is one of my favorites.

All the shops are very nice and there is no pressure from the shop attendants to buy anything. 

Cheaper items and things on sale are often displayed on racks in front of the shops.

Another view of the Jonaizaka-dori (main street). It's a weekday so it's not very busy today. If one visits here during the Golden Week Sale Festival this place is crazy busy with bus loads of visitors.  

After walking back and forth on the Jonaizaka-dori for awhile it was time for lunch. We ate in this Italian restaurant and we were surprised at the reasonable prices and the good quality of the food.

After our late lunch we walked to the Tsukamoto Pottery Factory and Store. I didn't take any pictures of the Tsukamoto Factory/Store; I was too busy shopping. For anyone visiting Mashiko Pottery town I highly recommend visiting Tsukamoto's. They have two show rooms and their products are amazing! They may not be cheap but you get what you pay for. Check out their website https://tsukamoto.net/

Fortunately for us our hotel for the night was next to the Tsukamoto Factory Show Room/Store. Welcome to the Mashiko Yuwakan  https://yuwakan.net/

This small Inn (only 5 guest rooms) has an enormous amount of history. 

Per the Hotels website:

Founded in 1882, the inn is a two-story wooden building with a gabled roof. The original staircase, alcove pillars and transoms in the rooms, lighting and other furnishings remain intact. You can take your time to appreciate good old Japanese architecture.

Our hotel is the building where His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus stayed when he was still Crown Prince, as a student evacuee. The room where the Emperor listened to the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War still remains, and there is a "Peace Gallery" that displays valuable materials. Guests can visit and experience the museum for free.

The furnishings in the building are all made of Mashiko ware, including the private baths made with Mashiko ware tiles and the washstands made of Mashiko ware ceramics. Of course, the breakfast dishes are also made of Mashiko ware. Please enjoy the world of Mashiko ware with its various expressions.

Here are a couple of pictures from inside our room.

One should be aware that the Hotel does not serve dinner; it only serves breakfast. Also, there are no vending machines in the hotel and no restaurants nearby. 

We were not well prepared for this but fortunately for us the hotel manager loaned us a couple of bicycles so we could ride a few kilometers to a 7-11 convenience store and buy food and drinks for our room. I think it had been at least 10 or more years since I last rode a bicycle. The things a person will do to get a cold beer and some food!

The hotel is owned by the Mashiko Town and is managed by one person. This is the woman who was manager for the night we stayed there. She was outstanding! 

After a delicious breakfast we checked out of the hotel and walked to the nearest bus stop. By the way, the nearest bus stop was not so near! And, there are only two buses going to Utsunomiya a day!

And, right on time our bus has arrived! It took about an 1 hour and 15 minutes for us to get from Mashiko to the JR Utsunomiya City train station. 

The first thing we did was to visit the Utsunomiya City Tourist Information Center inside the train station. We'll be staying in Utsunomiya city for a couple of days and it's always good to get walking maps and other up-to-date information from the Tourist Center before doing anything else.

We were staying at the Candeo Hotel next to the train station; it was too early to check in but they did take our suitcase for us and then we were off with our walking map to explore Utsunomiya city. 

First stop was Futaarayama-Jinja Shrine. Even shrines have websites!

This shrine is right in the middle of the city. And, of course they have a lot of steps to go up to get to it.

I'm a big fan of visiting shrines.

You meet the nicest people at shrines.

The atmosphere is so peaceful and quiet at a shrine.

And, one can say a prayer and if one is lucky their prayer will come true!

Then it's time to go back down the steps and do some more exploring.

If we're going to visit a Shinto shrine I guess we should also visit a Catholic Church too!

This is the Matsugamine Catholic Church, a Landmark building in Utsunomiya City. It was built in 1932 and is constructed with local Oya stone.

Moving along... now we're visiting the Orion-dori covered shopping street.

Hula dancers! I guess one never knows what one may see when walking along the Orion-dori covered shopping street.

This is the normal sight one sees.

There's also a considerable amount of eating and drinking establishments sprawling out onto the walkway. Day drinking seems to be a popular pastime around here!

Another thing people can do in Utsunomiya city is ride the newly built Utsunomiya Light Rail train system. I just thought I'd mention this. We did it, once was enough.👍

The view from our hotel room window. BTW, the Candio Hotel is fantastic! The roof-top hot bath spa is terrific and the buffet breakfast was great. If I ever come back to Utsunomiya again I'll be happy to stay here at the Candio hotel again. 

Last day: I have to talk about the Gyōza.

In the morning we visited the Utsunomiya Underground Oya Stone Quarry (which I have previously posted about). In the afternoon we ate Gyōza! Utsunomiya city is famous for its' Gyōza, so of course we had to check it out. 

We went to a special Gyōza restaurant in the basement of the Don Quijote Megastore in the center of Utsunomiya City. 

Check out this news story

This is Gyōza 

The best way to eat it is first dip it in black pepper and vinegar.

Sui Gyōza.

Gyōza and soup!

Inside the restaurant. Warning: do not come here on the weekend or a holiday unless you like to stand in a line (a long line!).

Emi likes Gyōza! 

Okay, that's it. The next morning we checked out of the hotel and caught a Shinkansen Bullet train home!  

Everything about our big Tochigi Prefecture adventure was great! A special thank you to the trip planner and coordinator, my beautiful wife Emi!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots!