Photo/Illutration Modern Noritake tableware in addition to historic pieces are displayed at the Noritake Museum. Noritake Garden is a park-like facility where visitors can enjoy shopping, restaurants and learn about manufacturing. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

Let’s see. What comes to mind when I hear Aichi? Aichi, Aichi ... I look down at my hands on the steering wheel at 10 and 2. Or on a clock face, 10 minutes after 10. I’m a model driver!

Back to Aichi--oh, it’s what I’m driving--a Toyota, of course. I decided to check out the automaker’s main plant in Nagoya. But, sometimes, life has something else in store for you.

On the road, I was catching every red light. As one who attaches meaning to everything, I was starting to think the universe was stalling me for some purpose.

Then, I glanced up at the signpost underneath a red light. I hadn’t ever seen that kanji pairing and wondered how to read it. I shifted my eyes to the romaji and saw “Noritake.”

“Noritake?” I looked at the kanji again. Well, could this place have anything to do with Noritake porcelain? It never occurred to me that the name could be a place, and I had only seen “Noritake” written in romaji.

Noritake Garden is situated on the premises of the chinaware maker’s headquarters in central Nagoya. A first-time visitor could spend all day there and more.

It’s a vast green oasis with a welcome center where you can learn the history of the company, then join a factory tour to learn how their products are made, visit the gorgeous museum with Old Noritake wares on display, shop for tableware and other lifestyle products at the artfully designed store, enjoy a drink at the cafe, or indulge in an exquisite full-course lunch or dinner served on Noritake tableware at Restaurant Kiln.

Bricks from the original factory building and a kiln from the early 1900s form a garden wall, and people of all ages lounge about on the grass. There’s a biotope, brook, fountain and tasteful artwork scattered about.

I was surprised and delighted to learn that Noritake does make more than dishes. After all, Nitori and Ikea sell tableware like hotcakes, and more people are into “fast” than “quality” products these days.

Noritake boasts 23 consolidated subsidiaries in nine countries and regions, and today it is the largest comprehensive manufacturer of grinding and polishing tools in Japan. It produces industrial ceramic materials, coolants, abrasives, circuit boards, dental materials and engineering equipment used for automobiles, electronic components and energy-related industries.

When you think of it, it does make sense because the manufacturing of ceramics yields many applications.

I was impressed.

* * *

This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Aug. 22 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

Related News