Shisa are everywhere here in Okinawa. They are sometimes called lion dogs. They are protectors of homes and businesses. They usually come in pairs; one has its mouth open and one has its mouth closed. The one with its mouth open is said to be scaring away evil spirits with its mighty roar and the one with its mouth closed is keeping good spirits in. The shisa is said to have come from China. Here is a link to more information about the history of shisa.
There is a street here in Naha that is known for its pottery. It's called Tsuboya Yachimun Street. This area of Naha has been the center of pottery making since the 1500s.
I saw an article in a base magazine about a shisa-making class. I was intrigued right away. I genuinely love the look of shisa and the idea of them protecting your home. I knew it would be a fun way to comemerate our tour here in Okinawa. I immediately reserved us a class. We chose Veteran's Day since Cody an the kids would be off of work and school. It was easy to book online through the Dojo's website. They were very communicative, sending an email with instructions. We were told to go to Ikutouen store first and they would give us a map to the studio/dojo.
Anytime I can, I do what we call a dry run before going someplace we haven't been before. We did a dry run out to the area on the Sunday prior to Veteran's Day. They were having a festival and there were lots and lots of people and booths. We drove carefully down the oneway brick road and located the shop and a pay parking lot. On the day of, we were set. We drove easily down the tiny street since there was no festival. We pulled into the parking lot and figured out how to use it. These parking lots have yellow metal plates in the middle of them. You back into the spot and within a few minutes the plate rises up under the car, preventing you from leaving. When you return to leave, you pay the parking fee at the machine. The metal plate lowers and you have four minutes to leave. It was easy enough.
We waited until 10am when the shop opened to walk over and ask about the dojo. I showed the lady the email and she handed us a laminated map. It seemed to be straight forward. Leave the shop turning right, walk down to where there is a do not enter sign, turn right up that street and it appeared that we needed to go down the second road to the left.
Halfway up the hill we encountered a musical truck. It was a trash pickup truck. Here is a video of the sound it made. I didn't get a video of the actual truck.
We continued up the hill and turned down what we thought was the correct pathway. It was not. We walked back and went up further. Then we went back to again where we thought we were supposed to go. I entered the street name Tsuboya into Googlemaps and followed it around much further than we knew it would be but we doubled back and managed to stumble up to the correct location...20 minutes late. I felt horrible. I despise being late. They were incredibly gracious when we arrived and promptly got us started with the process.
We each chose a color of glaze we would like to have on our final product. Three of us chose red and one chose black. We paid for our class, they do take credit card, and we were led to a table that was set up for us. The dojo is open sided so there was a nice breeze everyone in a while. There was another group of 4 that were making a hanging shisa. We were making standing shisa. The instructor is fluent n both Japanese and English as she went easily between our groups, giving instructions. We were given three balls of red Okinawan clay. She flawlessly showed us how to construct our shisa. There was jazzy calming music playing in the background and it was a very pleasant vibe in the studio.
Afterwards we took a few photos outside the dojo and headed back to the car pleased with ourselves. On our walk back we realized our mistake on the way up. The trash truck had obstructed our view of a small sign that pointed down the path. I believe it would have instructed us to go that way had we saw it. The map is a bit off as you should take the first path not the second OR we just misunderstood what a path is on the map. The map was in Japanese and had pictures but we still were not able to figure it out. Either way we made it back to our car and were very happy with our adventure.
Now we wait 2 1/2 months for the shisa to be completed. I believe they let them air dry for a very long time before firing them. I will share them when we get them back.
I would highly recommend the shisa making experience!
Tsuboya Pottery Yachimun Dojo
1 22 33 Tsuboya, Naha 902 0065
Booking contact: webform@ikutouen.com
https://yachimundojo.com/
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