IGEZARA DIARY

550TH IGEZARA IS A COMMON PATTERN OF CHRYSANTHEMUM BUT ITS IGE IS CAREFULLY CHISELED. A VISITOR TO THIS HOME PAGE ASKED WHERE CELADON PORCELAIN AND ENGRAVED IGEZARA WAS PRODUCED. HOWEVER BECAUSE OF LACK OF MY KNOWLEDGE, I COULD NOT REPLY CLEARLY. THERE IS STILL A WAY TO THE EXPERT. MY BEST FRIEND, DANNY HO (HONGKONG) VISITED THE MUSEUM. (0618/05)

I BOUGHT THIS IGEZARA OF IRIS PATTERN AT ANTIQUE MARKET AT YOKOHAMA PACIFICO. THE DIAMETER OF 40.8 CM IS THE BIGGEST IN MY COLLECTION. AS THIS IS WARPLESS, THIN, ANYWAY PERFECT SHAPE, I HAVE WAVED BETWEEN BUYING OR SUSPENDING. THE DYNAMIC IRIS LOOK MORE FREE THAN THE FLYING BUTTERFLY. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING THE BIGGER IGEZARA SOME DAY. (0503/05)

LARS SCHAUMANN (HAMBURG) AND MR. LI FEI (PEKING) VISITED THE MUSEUM AFTER SEEING CHERRY BLOSSOM IN KAMAKURA. THIS IS THE FIRST VISIT TO JAPAN FOR BOTH OF TWO. WE TOGETHER ENJOYED THE SUNSET BEHIND MT. FUJI AT RESTAURANT "ONPA-TEI". (0408/15)

MR. AND MRS. MCLEAN VISITED THE MUSEUM. RECENTLY THE BUSINESS CARD OF IGEZARA MUSEUM WAS PRINTED WITH TRANSLATION BY TONY MCLEAN. ALTHOUGH MANY FOREIGN FRIENDS VISITED THE MUSEUM, I HAD FORGOTTEN TO PREPARE THE GUESTBOOK. I WILL APPEAR THEM WITH PHOTO ON THIS DIARY FROM NOW ON. (0327/05)

ENGLISH VERSION OF THIS WEB HAS JUST BEEN COMPLETED EARLIER THAN MY ANTICIPATION. I HAVE SPENT AN ENORMOUS TIME TO DO BUT I AM SO GLAD TO ESTABLISH THE OPPORTUNITY THAT NON-JAPANESE MAY VISIT THIS WEB. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SO MANY UNTRANSLATABLE WORDS, I WILL TRY TO FIND THE MOST SUITABLE WORDS IN ENGLISH. (0109/05)

I HAVE GOTTEN THE 500TH KIND (SEE RIGHT: PEACOCK) SOMEHOW. ALTHOUGH I AM RUSHING TO RENEW THIS WEB SITE, I REGRET I COULDN'T MAKE IT IN TIME. I WILL DO IT WITHIN THIS YEAR AND ALSO MAKE ENGLISH VERSION BY MARCH 2005. I GUESS 500 KINDS WILL BE ABOUT ONE-FORTH OF TOTAL KINDS OF IGEZARA. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COLLECT IT AT THE SAME SPEED AS BEFORE IN 2Q(NEXT STAGE). I WILL THEREFORE PREPARE FOR BUILDING THE MUSEUM AND FOR ISSUING THE PICTORIAL BOOK AS WELL AS COLLECTING AS USUAL. (1105/04)

 

A DREAM CERTAINLY COMES TRUE. WHEN I GOT THE SMALLEST IGEZARA IN NOVEMBER 2003, I DETERMINED TO COLLECT ONE TO BE A FULL SET (5 PIECES : SEE LEFT). I COULD A FULL SET AT 1,000 YEN !! LAST YEAR I BOUGHT ONE PIECE AT 3,000 YEN AND THIS TIME 200 YEN PER PIECE. MIXED FEELING. (0807/04)

 

REACHED THE 450TH. THE BIRD IN THE PATTERN WILL BE AN OSPREY, A KIND OF HAWK. I HAVE EVER HEARD FROM MY TEACHER ABOUT AN OSPREY. FISHING A MULLET, SOMETIMES THERE IS A DEAD OSPREY WHOSE TALON IS INGROWN TO A MULLET. AN OSPREY DOES NOT KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS. HE TRYS TO CATCH A BIGGER FISH THAN HIM AND HE IS PULLED BY THE FISH INTO BENEATH THE SEA AND DIE BY DROWNING. I REMEMBERED THIS STORY AS SOON AS I SAW THIS PATTERN. (0508/04)

 

THE PHOTO OF IGEZARA TENTATIVE MUSEUM WAS APPEARED IN A MAGAZINE "MY ANTIQUE" (SPRING 2004) AT "MY FAVORITE CORNER" (LEFT). THIS IS THE BEDUT TO THE PAPER MEDIA. TWO PHOTOS AT THE LOWER RIGHT ARE THE ONES./ I ADDED "WINDOW" ON TITLE BAR OF WEB SITE. WINDOW IGEZARA WILL OBTAIN THE MAJORITY IN IGEZARA PATTERNS AND WILL NOT BE SO POPULAR. TODAY A SUBWAY "MINATO MIRAI" WAS OPENED. (0201/04)

 

I COULD COLLECT 150 KINDS WITHIN A YEAR OF 2003 AND REACHED 400 KINDS TOTALLY. THE MEMORIAL 400TH WAS DONATED BY MR. IGETA WHO LIVES IN NARA-PREFECTURE. I WILL HAVE TO MAKE A PLAN OF ESTABLISHING THE REAL MUSEUM./ RECENTLY I FOUND THE IGEZARA OF GLOBEFISH PATTERN WAS KNOCKED DOWN AT MORE THAN 100.000 YEN. MIXED FEELING. (1212/03)

 

I DIDN'T KNOW THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A SMALL IGEZARA. THIS IS CERTAINLY MADE IN TAISHO ERA AND ALSO TEGAKI/IROE. THIS WILL BE THE SMALLEST. THERE IS A BIG RANGE FROM 40CM DIAMETER TO THIS SIZE. THIS WILL BE SETO OR MINO. I WILL COLLECT THIS TYPE UPTO A FULL SET ONE BY ONE. PROBABLY THERE IS ANOTHER PATTERN OF THE SAME SIZE. (1122/04)

 

MR. IGETA IN NARA-PREFECTURE PRESENTED "A CRANE IN BAMBOO GROVE". ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT SO RARE, I HAVE NOT MET THIS. YESTERDAY I WENT TO YOKOHAMA ANTIQUE WORLD WHERE I COULD NOT MEET ANY UNIQUE PATTERN IGEZARA. AS IGEZARA IS STILL CHEAP, EVERYONE MAY THINK THAT HE DOES NOT NEED TAKE THE TROUBLE TO CARRY A HEAVY IGEZARA FOR A SMALL PROFIT. (1102/03)

 

I FOUND A FOOD ON THE IGEZARA IN A MAGAZINE IN WHICH UNIQUE FOODS OF SAGA-PREFECTURE ARE INTRODUCED. THE IGEZARA'S PATTERN IS TAKO-KARAKUSA (LEFT). SINCE THEN I WAS LOOKING FOR TAKO-KARAKUSA IGEZARA BUT NO CHANCE. FINALLY I FOUND IT YAHOO AUCTION AND GOT IT. HOWEVER IT WAS.... NEW ONE. I CHECKED CAREFULLY THE EXPLANATION ON AUCTION SITE. YES, THERE WAS THE INDICATION OF NEW ONE. LOVE IS BLIND. INCREDIBLE MISTAKE. IT IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. (0823/03)

 

THE 350TH KIND IS "TSURU-KAME (CRANE & TURTLE)" (RIGHT). GRADUALLY IGEZARA MAY GET POPULAR AND IT IS GETTING DIFFICULT TO COLLECT. TOTAL WEIGHT OF 350 KINDS WILL BE OVER 200 KILO. I AM SO ANXIOUS THAT THE BOTTOM OF CLOSET MIGHT BE BROKEN. (0816/03)

 

BAMBOO SCREEN (LEFT) ARRIVED FROM THE FACTORY IN NUMAZU, SHIZUOKA-PREFECTURE. I PUT IT IN THE TENTATIVE MUSEUM. IT GIVES US RELAXED ATMOSPHERE AND IT IS MATCHING TO IGEZARA. THE BRIGHT LAMP IN LEFT PHOTO IS FROM THE PULL-DOWNED BUILDING MADE IN MEIJI OR TAISHO ERA. ALL PLATES YOU CAN SEE IN THE PHOTO ARE IGEZARAS.(0530/03)

 

REACHED THE 300TH KIND. THE PATTERN IS A MOST POPULAR "TSURU-KAME" (CRANE & TURTLE) PATTERN. THIS IS A SYMBOLIC PATTERN. THE PRICE OF 45,000 YEN IS EXPENSIVE BUT AN ENTHUSIAST IS HOPELESS WITH MONEY. BY THE WAY THE TENTATIVE MUSEUM IS GETTING OCCUPIED. (0411/03)

 

I HAVE COME TO THE NEXT STAGE OF 250 KINDS. THE MEMORIAL IGEZARA IS "A DANCING CRANE"(LEFT). RECENTLY I SELDOM CAN FIND NEW PATTERNS. IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO COLLECT 300 KINDS BY THIS SUMMER. (0105/03)

 

THE 200TH KIND WAS DONATED BY MR. YOICHI YOSHINARI, UTSUNOMIYA, TOCHIGI-PREFECTURE. THIS IS RARE "POMEGRANATE" (RIGHT) WITH IRON-GLAZED. (0927/02)

 

THE SHOP CURTAIN DESIGNED BY ME WITH AN IMAGE OF IGEZARA ARRIVED TO THE TENTATIVE MUSEUM FROM THE FACTORY, ARTCRAFT CO., LTD., SHIGA-PREFECTURE. I SET UP WITH PLEASURE. DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE IN THE PHOTO, LIGHT BROWN PART IS DYED WITH CAPE JASMINE AND DARK BROWN WITH ASTRINGENT PERSIMMON. IT TOOK ONE MONTH TO MAKE THIS CURTAIN WHICH SOME DAY I WANT TO SET UP ON THE GATE OF MY REAL MUSEUM. (0831/02)

 

THERE ARE ABOUT 700 KINDS OF IGEZARA SHOWN ON THE PICTORIAL BOOK "IGEZARA" BY MR. ALISTAIR SETON. ALTHOUGH I PUBLISH ANOTHER PICTORIAL BOOK WITH THE SMALLER NUMBER OF IGEZARA, IT IS MEANINGLESS AND ALSO RUDE FOR MR. SETON. AS OF TODAY MY COLLECTION IS 160 KINDS.I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY YEARS IT WILL TAKE TO COLLECT 1,000 KINDS WHICH I THINK MINIMUM. I COMPLETELY LOST MY MEMORY OF 1ST AND 2ND IGEZARA WHICH I COLLECTED. 3RD IS IN OCTOBER, 2001, I.E, IT TOOK 10 MONTHS TO COLLECT 160 KINDS. ANYWAY I WILL REPORT EVERY 50TH KIND HERE AND ALSO PERSONAL RESEARCH. IF POSSIBLE I WILL CONTRIBUTE MY REPORTS TO TECHNICAL MAGAZINES. (0810/02)

 

ACCORDING TO MY MOTHER, IT WAS ALMOST A SHAME THAT SHE USED IGEZARA FOR DAILY MEALS. THEREFORE IT SEEMS IGEZARA , AS WELL AS RICE BOILED WITH BARLEY, REMINDS HER OF POOR DAYS. ALTHOUGH I ESTABLISH A REAL IGEZARA MUSEUM, THE VISITORS WILL BE LIMITED. THIS MAY BE JUST A LOSING BUSINESS. HOWEVER I WILL ADVANCE BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE. THIS IS A CHALLENGE. (0810/02 -- AUGUST 10, 2002)