Golden Week

Golden Week

excursion to Arita

But first: what’s golden week?

Golden week is an official holiday in Japan.

It’s referring to the following dates:

April 29

The Emperor's Birthday (天皇誕生日 -> Tennō Tanjōbi), until 1988

Greenery Day (みどりの日 -> Midori no Hi), from 1989 until 2006

Shōwa Day (昭和の日 -> Shōwa no Hi), since 2007

May 3

Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日 -> Kenpō Kinenbi)

May 4

Citizen's Holiday (国民の休日 -> Kokumin no Kyūjitsu), from 1985 until 2006

Greenery Day (みどりの日 -> Midori no Hi), since 2007

May 5

Children's Day (こどもの日 -> Kodomo no Hi), or also known as Boys' Day (端午の節句->Tango no Sekku).

this information is partly copied from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(Japan) 

So from April 29th until May 5th there is no school (but usually there is still club activity) and many employees also get some days off. I also had some free time and my host family took me to Arita, a city located in the south-western area of Saga prefecture, Kyū-shū island.

Arita is famous for it’s ceramic products. During golden week, there is a big public market, where the most beautifully crafted pottery can be seen. Many of the pieces really are marvelous! This year there were many very modern looking designs.     simple, straight, a lot of pastel colored ceramics… 

I really enjoyed it! The pictures below shall give you some impressions:

I totally adore "Le petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The japanese seem to love him just as much.

These are the chinese zodiac signs/animals

I really loved these cute little bunnies.
Well unfortunately their price was not exactly...small:
the left one cost 7,560 yen and the one on the right 3,240 yen.
yeah well, it's art I guess :-)

I hope you liked this post and that you'll "click by" again.

My next post is going to be about one of the most famous works of japanese literature! Until next time! Avria<3