文/英語訳：ヴィンセント – ホイザ

このブログのいくつかの記事で説明があるとおり、有田町は佐賀県にある小さな町で「日本磁器発祥の地」として広く知られており、今も磁器産業が盛んだ。毎年4月29日から5月5日のゴールデンウィーク期間中、歴史的重要性の高い町家が軒を並べる通りで有田陶器市が開催される。119回目の開催となった今年は、新型コロナウイルスの感染対策を緩和し、コロナ前の規模や内容で開催された。昨年は来場者にマスクの着用や手指消毒、検温を呼びかけ、その前の2回はリアルでの開催が中止となり、代わりに「オンライン陶器市」が行われた。「オンライン陶器市」は大変好評であったため、今年で4回目を迎えた。今年の有田陶器市は115万人もの人出でにぎわいを見せたが、厳しい水際対策が行われていた昨年の122万人は及ばなかった。主な原因として、昨年の有田陶器市は3年ぶりの開催であったことと、今年のイベント初日が悪天候であったことの2つが考えられる。

by Vincent Heuser

As already described in several articles on this blog, the small town of Arita in Saga Prefecture is to the present day famous for its porcelain production and widely known as the “birthplace of Japanese porcelain”. Every year during the Golden Week (April 29^th to May 5^th) [1], the “Tōki-ichi” Porcelain Fair is held in the historic part of old Arita Town where relevant historic buildings are lining up along the main street. This year marked the 119^th edition of the Tōki-ichi and the porcelain fair was held with eased covid-19 restrictions. Last year, people were still asked to wear masks, disinfect their hands and measure their body temperature before entering the venue. In the two years prior to that, the Tōki-ichi had been cancelled completely with only a web-version of the event called “Online Tōki-ichi” being held instead. Since the “Online Tōki-ichi” proved to be very popular, it was held parallel to the actual Porcelain Fair in Arita this and last year [2] and for the fourth time in total. The actual Tōki-ichi was also thriving with a total of 1.15 million [3] visitors over the course of one week. Still, there were not as many as last year with 1.22 million [4] in a time when rather restrictive measures regarding travelling from abroad to Japan were still in place. The two main reasons one can think of causing the slightly lower turnout than last year were the high interest in the Tōki-ichi last year for its first opening in three years as well as the bad weather in Saga during the first days of the Golden Week this year [5].

上記で述べたとおり今年の有田陶器市は感染対策を緩和して行われ、また日本政府は、大型連休明けの5月8日から新型コロナウイルスに関する規制の緩和を発表していた。それでも多くの来場者がマスクを着用し、お店の入り口には手指消毒用の消毒液が設置されていた。今年秋に開催される秋の有田陶磁器まつり、そして来年の有田陶器市でマスクを着用した来場者がどれくらいいるのか、興味深い。

As mentioned above, this year`s Tōki-ichi was held with eased restrictions and the Japanese government had set the date for all covid-19 measures to be lifted for May 8^th, the day after the weekend following Golden Week. However, a considerable number of people still wore masks and disinfection spray could still be found at the entrances of several of the participating porcelain shops. It will be interesting to see, how big the share of people deciding to wear masks will be for the Porcelain Fair in autumn this year, respectively next Golden Week.

今年から再開された有田陶器市ならではのイベントを2つ紹介する。1つは、2019年まで参加していたスコットランドのバグパイプパレードだ。

Two of the special activities that take place as part of the Tōki-ichi every year were resumed this year. One was the bagpipe parade by the orchestra from Scotland that has been part of the Tōki-ichi every year until 2019.

もう1つは皿山商店会による「朝がゆ」のふるまいだ。雨にも関わらず朝がゆを求める人で長蛇の列ができ、中には夜のうちから待つ人さえいた。300人分準備された今年の干支がデザインされた器で提供された朝がゆは、あっという間に売り切れた。

The other one was the sale of “Asa-Gayu” (Morning Rice Porridge) at the Tezuka Shōten Gallery. Despite the rainy weather, a long line of customers waited outside the store with some visitors even staying there since the night before to be first in line. 300 portions of the popular dish were served in special bowls with a design matching this year`s Chinese zodiac sign and sold out in no time [6].

陶磁器産業は数十年前から低迷しているが、有田陶器市というイベントを通して今でも多くの方が陶磁器に関心があることがわかった。また陶磁器を扱うお店において、イベント期間の売上げが年間売上げの半分を占めることもあるため、有田陶器市は必要不可欠なイベントとなっている。有田町における陶磁器に関する課題として、有田陶器市が陶磁器を求める来場者でにぎわうイベントであり続けることや販路開拓などが挙げられる。

The porcelain industry has been in decline for decades now, but the Tōki-ichi proved that there is still widespread interest in porcelain. For many of the porcelain selling companies in Arita, the Tōki-ichi is crucial in order to be able to stay in business since some places generate up to 50 percent of their annual revenue during this time. The tasks incumbent on Arita Town in relation to the porcelain industry are therefore to guarantee that the Tōki-ichi will continue on being a successful event in the years to come as well as to find new solutions to promote the sales of porcelain.

ヴィンセント・ホイザはハンブルク大学アフリカ・アジア学部日本学科を卒業しました。卒業論文のテーマは「2011年の東日本大震災後の日本：東北地方の復興」です。現在はJETプログラムの参加者として、有田町役場で勤務しています。

Vincent Heuser received his bachelor’s degree from Hamburg University with a thesis on “Japan after the triple disaster 2011: The revitalization of the Tōhoku area”. He currently works as the coordinator for international relations (CIR) in the JET-Program at the municipal hall of Arita-chō.