My teaching adventures in Japan often take me to a little town south of Senmaya called Fujisawa. Now, about 15 years ago, Fujisawa embraced the art of Haniwa. What is Haniwa, you ask?
Haniwa was a form of Japanese funerary that appeared during the kofun period in ancient Japan. It involves pottery of small earthenware figures of horses, dogs spirits or pretty much anything you can think of. And let me tell you, some of these sculptures can be pretty freaky. If you are interested in Japanese history, you might wish to check out this Wikipedia article on Haniwa. Now, obviously people in Fujisawa don’t use Haniwa to mark the solemn occasion of a death, but haniwa does serve the purpose of livening up the town. You can find this stuff everywhere. Be sure to check out my flickr set for more examples of haniwa around Fujisawa.
Every year Fujisawa holds a contest for it’s citizens to determine the best haniwa of the year. The winner receives a thousand dollar cash prize. According to one of the English teachers at Fujisawa Junior high, a student won the contest a couple of years ago. I think I just might be up for pottery in the next couple of months.
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