Masa is good taking good care of us. We met last November on the Land Cruiser’s Festa in Aso and from the start of our adventure in Japan, he has kept track of our itinerary and connecting us with friends throughout the country.
Read More: Joining the Land Cruisers Festa in Japan
A glassblower in Japan
As a result we received an invitation to drop by at Peter Ivy’s home, near Toyama. The American has lived in Japan for 15 years and is a professional glass blower. He came to Japan to teach glass blowing at a university in Tokio but when his (ex) wife got a super job opportunity they moved to Toyama.
Peter found a combination of being the primary caretaker of their first child while building a glass blowing studio and building his own line of glass work.
Travel Guides for Japan
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Watching the glass blowing process
We sat an afternoon watching as Peter and Itsuka, his partner, created beautiful pieces of art. While art Peter makes functional glass work, such as glasses, plates, glass containers to store rice or pasta, etc.
Watching glass blowing is like watching a campfire. It is mesmerizing, you automatically follow your eyes to each seemingly small yet imperative part of the process. You can see (and order) his work here.
Food & Talks
We spent a couple of pleasant days together. As a fellow Land Cruiser aficionado – Peter owns a BJ46 – there was a fair share of car talk, of course. And when you talk, you need to eat and drink. So we decided to revive our Coleman oven. It had been a while since we had baked bread and Itsuka wanted to learn how to make it.
Read More: Baking Your Own Bread? Are You Nuts! – Our Coleman Camp Oven
I prepared hummus with the last chickpeas I had and we had another meal to share with a couple of beers as we sat in front of the oven – which runs at 1100 degrees and thus is not switched off for the night – to keep us warm during the last cold evenings before spring was finally bursting into full bloom.
The days passed too quickly. Peter and Itsuka left for Tokio for the first part of a big exhibition.
Read More: Landcruising Adventure’s Homemade Hummus
Update:
Truth be said, this Where Are We is from some 10 days ago. Meanwhile I can add that we’ve seen some stunning sakura – cherry blossom – see them here. We are getting ready for our annual visit to the Netherlands so our next update will be from there!
Check it out: the Landcruising Adventure Legging Collection
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Oh you were there. So you met their daughter MoMo? She is my one of Lodi!
Heya Masa, how is the family? And how is your house coming along?
I’m not sure we have met their daughter? How old is she?