MASHIKO STATION (MASHIKOMACHI, TOCHIGI PREF.)

Remodeled station a beacon of local history

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Yasushi Wada

By Hajime Someya

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Mashiko Station's image is dominated by its lovely peaked roof and clock tower. As a steam locomotive approached the station, the platform became engulfed in black smoke, evoking the atmosphere of a fantasy movie.

It is for this that railroad fans gather with cameras in hand at the station. There is no better place to photograph the locomotive that connects Shimodate, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture.

The station underwent a complete renovation seven years ago, giving it a completely new look. Before, it was just an ordinary wooden building.

The area's other main claim to fame is ceramics.

In front of the ticket gate, a huge pot of water called Goshaku Ogame welcomes passengers. Its deep colored glaze, a mixture of amber and persimmon tones, and decorative curve are typical of Mashiko-ware. But the size, 1.5 meters high and 4 meters wide, is highly atypical.

Mizuki Yoshikawa, 63, a ceramic artist from Kanagawa Prefecture, came here after graduating from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He remembers clearly the day he arrived 39 years ago from Ueno Station in Tokyo, hopping from train to train until he reached Mashiko Station.

"The station and its front had a lonely feel, and the town had a leisurely mood. I thought I had escaped way out into the countryside," he said.

Yoshikawa took an instructor's post at the prefectural ceramic instruction facility and soon noticed the small-town charm of the people of Mashiko. Local volunteers and senior ceramic artists educate those who have aspirations in art and culture without expecting any return or profit, even though their students are total strangers.

"That is the culture and dignity of Mashiko, though it's hard for an outsider to see," he said.

The word "mingei" (folk art) was coined in Mashiko. Shoji Hamada, a ceramic artist and living national treasure, and his close ceramic artist friends Muneyoshi Yanagi and Kanjiro Kawai discussed during a trip together to Mashiko how they wished for a new word to express art and craft in their day-to-day lives.

Abbreviating the words "minshu no kogei" (art and craft of common people) they coined the word mingei in 1925, a year before the end of the Taisho era (1912-1926). After that, the mingei movement flourished with Mashiko at its center.

Down the street from the station is an area known for its selection of mingei ceramics. Jonaizaka-dori street, a 20-minute walk from the station, teems with about 50 shops big and small, specializing in the craft. Works by lesser-known artists are available at reasonable prices, with small plates and sake cups selling for just a few hundred yen.