On September 1st, the first session of the Pottery of Yui Project was held at the University of Tsukuba. People who have moved to Tsukuba to live from places like Haramachi-ku and Odaka-ku in Minami-Soma City, Futaba-gun in the town of Futaba, and the towns of Nahara, Tomioka and Namie, as well as Iwaki City, participated in the project. The participants divided into two teams: those from Odaka-ku in Minami-Soma City, and those from Futaba and other places. They cooperated with each other to make the casts for the cups and bowls, and the two halves of the mold. The task was completed thanks to the cooperative communication between the supporting students and the participants.
For the second session on September 8th next week, the participants will use the molds they create to make cups and bowls. We are then planning to hold a lunch party on September 28th (Saturday), where everyone can use the pottery they’ve made to eat a meal with Hojo rice from Tsukuba. It was still very hot when we held the session, but the day was over before we knew it. When we want to create and shape something, we always need to discuss things and share advice with each other. This is true for making things from clay, as well as in other situations. The participants chatted naturally about their current situation, what it was like to evacuate, and of course the nuclear disaster. While sharing these stories, they experienced an out of the ordinary task of creation. I was very happy to hear them say they were having fun. The Hojo rice we will use at the lunch party will be sourced with the help of the students active in Hojo-ku, Tsukuba City, as members of “Crappe” (Facebook Crappe Diary.) (Saito)