ノリタケの森

A sign at the entrance to Noritake Gardens informs me that all animals must be kept in a cage; who exactly brings their caged dog to a public garden? This place is very famous because it is the birthplace of modern pottery in Japan. There is a place marked on the map called ‘Chimney Gardens’, so I head to there to find six tall chimneys shrouded in foliage. The remains of the pottery plant. The view of these historic chimneys is unexpectedly spoilt by a dinosaur. For no reason that I can see, on the old grounds of this historic site, this award winning historic site, are three robotic dinosaurs. They move around, their mouths open and close, they roar at the children. This is a site of industrial heritage, and features the conservation of a 110 year old kiln that was used to develop the first Noritake plate. The company still trades today, and throughout Japan, Noritake tableware is a household name. The remains of the factory wall can be seen too, rebuilt from the bricks of old kilns. Bricks were imported into Japan at the end of the Edo period, and the remains of the red brick plant is also valuable industrial heritage. The remains of the wall this time obstructed by Tyrannosaurus Rex. Unbelievable. Also, for reasons I can’t explain, there are thousands of dragonflies here too. I am not sure what it is about bricks that dragonflies like, but there are so many that everywhere I walk I have to avoid being hit by one of the stray insects as they dart about without a care. No cages for the dragonflies here.