While the spring festival was happening in Dogo, we had a nabe party in the guesthouse. It was the perfect opportunity for our foreign guests to discover this great Japanese dish! Symbol of family, friends or colleagues gathering in Japan, you won’t find it in any restaurant.

Repeater guest, Kochi stalwart and all around good guy, Bear, hosted a really great live event at the guesthouse last weekend, May 10th.  His collection of ceramics really blew everyone away and he ended up selling quite a few pieces.  We also had the  awesome deal where if you bought a cup, you received a 15% discount on all drinks for the night-as you would expect, many people took us up on the offer.

We had 2 live music events last weekend…both super interesting, both very different; needless to say a good time was had by all.

On Friday the 13th (spooky) we had a duo from Spain that played Klezmer music, which is Eastern European Jewish music that is usually played at celebrations such as marriages.  2 days earlier, they also played to a packed house in the very atmospheric wanitosai.

It’s been an absolute wonderful week for music for us here at Sen.  We saw two shows (one of them at Sen) and a festival with 6 different acts this last weekend; more live music than we’ve seen in the last 2 months.

Last Sunday, we had the honor of hosting a blow-out party for the super talented Tobe-yaki artist Asato Ikeda.  Tobe (a small, picturesque town about 30 mins south of Matsuyama) is famous as being one of Japan’s premier historic pottery locations. Tobe-yaki pottery, with its white clay and blue patterns, is a nationally designated traditional craft in addition to being a prefectural intangible cultural asset. Thick, simple pieces with good durability are the staple of Tobe-yaki.  Asato Ikeda (3rd generation potter) works in his family7s pottery company, Ryusen-gama.

We are very pleased to announce we will be exhibiting our good friend’s  陶芸い or ceramic art this coming month.

For the next 2 weeks we are blessed to have the works of Maiko Iwata on our walls (and in front of our windows).

As you all (should) know, Ehime is one of Japan’s premere spots for sake or Nihon Shu (not biased). Kuramotoya is a Nihon-shu shop that was started 4 years ago near downtown Matsuyama.  It is owned and operated by a collective that represents some of the biggest Nihon-shu breweries in Ehime.