Rice Cracker 2

This rice cracker contains special seaweed produced in Ariake Bay in Kyushu. I bought it as a souvenir from Saga. The combined taste of the seaweed and soy sauce was so GOOD!

Arita-produced Vase

Saga prefecture is famous for its pottery. Arita, Imari, and Karatsu produce various pottery, from chopstick pillows to large, gorgeous vases. When we went to Saga City this April, there was a large Arita-produced table lamp in the hotel room, so large that I could not draw all of it in the limited time. So, I just drew half.

Rice Cracker

Rice cracker, or senbei, is one of the most popular confectioneries in Japan. Virtually every city or town has its original cracker. It is fun to try them when you travel around Japan. I found this cracker when I visited Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto. The design on the package made me smile because it reminded me of the old game fukuwarai. The face is called "otafuku," the name of an imaginary woman having many fortunes.

In the game a blindfolded player is given the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth of the otafuku, all made of paper, and the player has to put them in the appropriate places on the faceless otafuku. You can imagine how funny the face will be when the blindfold is taken away.

A Ceramic Tumbler

The hotel in Fukuchiyama, where we stayed in early April, had ceramic tumblers. I liked the simple design and the touch of the tumbler. The actual tumblers are shorter than the one I drew, but I altered it to fill the length of the envelope.

- MT