Beauty in the vessels of everyday use. Mashiko in Tochigi is a leading pottery town of the Kanto region, with many studios in town offering pottery experiences. Mashiko ware is plain; the character of the clay comes through directly, thick and round and warm. It is not a luxury item, but everyday ware for the daily table. The man who made this town famous was the potter Shoji Hamada, who, moved by Soetsu Yanagi's mingei movement, believed that true beauty lay in the daily goods made by anonymous craftsmen. Nameless vessels made by nameless people, and the beauty that dwells in them, that is mingei. In the experience, you turn the wheel; the clay takes shape in your hands. It does not go as you intend, and yet it is fascinating. To eat every day from a vessel you made yourself, that is a modest but certain richness.