April 8th

Today Mom and I had planned on going to Noritake for a couple of reasons.

A) It is a historic and beautiful place.

2) Brian and I have some very old (nearly 100 yrs) Noritake china that was given to us by my Grandmother for our wedding and we have some pieced we would like to replace.

D) Mom and I had learned that you could paint your own piece of china and have it glazed and shipped to you.

Victoriously Mom and I made the train trip to Noritake Gardens with out getting lost!!

The gardens are beautiful with streams and paths running all along the grounds of the old factory site. It is a very relaxing and serene atmosphere.

We took a educational tour of how ceramic helps us today besides eating off it. We then went to see about ordering other pieces of our china pattern. Armed with pictures, and my phrase book I attempted to explain what I was looking for. A phone call was made and 5 minutes later a english speaking employee arrived to let me know that Noritake could try and have an artist try and recreate the pattern but it would not look the same :( She did give me a list of replication companies and companies that specialize in finding older china pieces:) We made our way to the museum and were amazed at how many designs look like our pattern. I guess I was just being hopeful that around the next corner I would find the serving platter that matches. At the end of the museum they offer you a chance to paint your own piece of Noritake china. Ok so I thought the same thing too, maybe I could just paint my pattern myself! Ha Ha Once we chose our pattern Mom and I saddled up to the paint station and 2 1/2 hours later we were ready to have our works of art set in stone or rather porcelain! I am anxious to see how they turned out. I can only imagine something that Noritake said should only take an hour will me even more spectacular after 2 1/2, right? I hope that every time I visit I can do this and eventually end up with a set of dishes.

*This activity was so neat and at a reasonable price of about 32.00 usd for the plate and shipping to the states*

Another victorious train ride back to Shin sakae (where my parents live) and a nap to finish our day!