CACL participated in “akasaka Sacas Disaster Prevention Fest 2024” held at akasaka Sacas Plaza in Tokyo on November 23 and 24. Akasaka Sacas Disaster Prevention Fest 2024” is an event for parents and children to learn about disaster prevention, and was held for the second time this year. It is an event where people can enjoy learning about disaster prevention through seeing, hearing, and experiencing.

The event will feature not only firefighting vehicles such as ladder trucks and VR trucks, but also motorcycle and police car rides, as well as a number of companies selling disaster prevention food and supplies.

CACL held a workshop for making chopstick rests using traditional handicrafts of Kutani and Suzu pottery at the “You can support by buying! CACL held a workshop to make chopstick rests using traditional Kutani and Suzu pottery pieces at the “Disaster Area Support Booth”.
Wajima Asaichi, which we visited together with CACL, sold crab soup and seafood. Our staff also enjoyed delicious crab soup.
As you know, the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred on New Year’s Day this year caused tremendous damage. As you may have heard in the news reports about the devastating damage to people and buildings, crafts such as Kutani and Suzu potteries are no exception. Many Kutani-yaki and Suzu-yaki porcelains were broken by the earthquake. It is said that even during the normal production process of Kutaniyaki, approximately 10% of all Kutaniyaki is discarded due to out-of-specification or other reasons. When the damage caused by the earthquake is added to that, you can see that the amount is quite large. In fact, the amount of material we salvaged after the earthquake alone amounted to 6 tons. This should give you an idea of just how extensive the damage was this time.

In this workshop, we will make original chopstick rests from the broken pieces of pottery from the earthquake and out-of-spec pottery pieces that are inevitably produced in the production process.
The pieces were then rounded off to prevent injury. Customers were able to choose from a total of six colors of Kutani ware (five colors) and Suzu ware (one color), and harden them together with gold leaf to make their one-of-a-kind original chopstick rests.

Thanks to your support, the two-day workshop was a great success! Many people participated, from children as young as 3 or 4 years old to people in their 60’s. We prepared many items, but they were sold out early on the second day. We were very happy to see that the workshop sold out early on the second day, even though we had prepared a large number of items for the event. As everyone experienced the event, we asked ourselves the following questions
I wanted to do something for the Noto Peninsula.
I knew about Kutani ware, but this was my first time to see and touch the real thing.
The ceramic pieces and gold leaf are so shiny and cute.
I was also impressed to hear various comments such as, “Kutani Yaki is smooth, while Suzu Yaki is rough and interesting.

CACL provides opportunities for reframing and repurposing artifacts and ceramic pieces that would normally be out of specification or discarded as waste into artworks and materials. This workshop is one such reframing. Through the experience of a chopstick rest workshop, participants can deepen their interest in and understanding of Kutani Yaki and Suzu Yaki, which have been discarded in the past. We hope that this workshop provided an opportunity for everyone to think about the Noto Peninsula earthquake and disaster prevention, even if only a little.