A story, set in Tajimi,

about high schoolgirls

and the Togei-bu,
pottery club.

2
 Genkina Tajimi Project “Yakunara Mug Cup Mo”

Thank you for taking the time to read this magazine. “Yakunara Mug Cup Mo”
is a free publication put out by a group of people who love Tajimi. We call it
“Kurukuru Rokuro Manga.”

The city of Tajimi, located in the southern part of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, is famous
for Mino earthenware. The city is dotted with historical pottery producers and
ceramic art museums. It has facilities where you can try your hand at making
pottery, and many restaurants that serve food on Minoware dishes.

The story begins when a high school girl moves to a shopping street in Tajimi.
Many encounters await her, friends, town folk, ceramic art, etc. What will she
discover in a town famous for ceramics?

“Yakunara Mug Cup Mo” is a collaborative work by many people involved with
Tajimi’s pottery culture. Like it's main characters, “Yakunara Mug Cup Mo” will
develop slowly. We invite you to watch it grow.

Yakunara Mug Cup Mo staff

 EPISODE 02

Toko & Mika

 THEN
MOVE
MOVE TOWARD
UPWARD YOUR
SLOWLY THUMBS.
AND
RELAXED
……

NEXT,
MOVE
UPWARD LIKE
YOU ARE
PUSHING
BACK.

THERE
I THINK THANK
YOU CAN YOU
YOU’RE TAKE IT AS
TEACHING FROM ALWAYS,
HERE. SENPAI.
HIMENO-SAN
HOW TO DO,
AREN’T YOU?

THIS IS
BETWEEN
YOU AND
ME.

……… I’M MAKING

MIKA–CHAN… ……… OH! SOMETHING
ARE YOU WHEN WILL IMPORTANT,
LISTENING MY WORKS I CAN’T
TO ME? BE FIRED? TAKE MUCH
TIME TO
HELP YOU.

2
 WORK
UNIFORMS
ARE NICE.
I WANT TO
HAVE ONE,
TOO.

THIS
RED STAIN
DIDN’T
COME
SHOULD
OUT.
I HAVE
USED
BLEACH?

I’M
DOING
THE
LAUNDRY.
WHAT TOYOKAWA
ARE YOU -SAN?
DOING? WHAT
ARE YOU
DOING?

DON’T
I’M A YOU OH,
IS TOGEI-BU KNOW? SENSEI.
THAT ADVISOR.
SO?
 LOOK AT
THOSE
TWO. SINCE
THEY’RE TO HAVE I HARDLY
GETTING A BREAK. EVER
ALONG
WITH COME
EACH HERE.
OTHER.

UH
WHAA
AAA
AAA
AAT?

IT YES…… THEY
HAPPENS SOMETIMES
SOME
VERY QUARREL.
OFTEN. TIMES.
 DO YOU TOKO
WANT TO SENPAI.
TAKE A
BREAK?

I’M
IMPRESSED
YOU’RE
WORKING THANKS.
HARD,
TOKO–CHAN.

DO YOU
WANT HEY
SOME TEA
WITH
SWEET
PLUM?

5
 I HAVE KEPT
THE WORK
UNIFORM. NO
BUT THE PROBLEM. TAHNK YOU
RED STAIN SO MUCH
DIDN’T ALSO FOR DOING
COME OUT IT’S A THE
AT ALL. NICE DAY. LAUNDRY.

OH,
…… THAT’S
THE
COLORANT
I'M FOR
THANK GOING TO COATING
YOU. TEACH YOU CERAMICS.
SO IT WON’T
HOW TO USE COME OUT.
COLORANTS.
IT'S
NOT
PAINT.

MIKA
–CHAN.
YOU
DON’T
LEARN
ANYTHING. I TEACH
YOU BUT…

DON’T
BE SO
CASUAL
ABOUT
IT.
 IF YOU CAN’T
YOU DON'T
TEACH HIMENO,
SEEM TO
MIKA–CHAN,
BE TAKING
MAYBE YOU HAVE
THIS
I SHOULD… BEEN JUST
SERIOUSLY.
MAKING
THINGS
LIKE TOYS.

TODAY
SENPAI UH THAT’S STOP
ANNOY- IS ENOUGH!
ING!
IT!
 I’M
GOING
HOME
!!!

WELL…
IT
SOMETIMES
HAPPENS.
 N NOW…
ISN’T IT
BETTER
TO HAVE
SOME
I’LL BE SNACKS?
RIGHT
BACK.

9
 YOU DON’T
NEED
TO LEAVE, WHY ARE YOU
DO YOU? FOLLOWING ME?
TOKO–SENPAI TOKO–SENPAI IS
IS WORRRIED THE ONE WHO
ABOUT YOU, SHOULD CHASE
TOO. AFTER ME!

WELL,
WHY ISN’T
SHE
FOLLOW-
ING?

……

I’M
WHAT?
BUYING
SOME DON’T
SNACKS. FOLLOW
FORGET ME
I’M HERE. ANYMORE!

SNACKS?
WELL
……

YOU
DON’T
KUKURI– NEED TO
CHAN, COME
WHAT WITH
SNACKS ME.
DO YOU
LIKE? ……

ER
……

LET’S
SEE
……

HEY,
LOOK HERE,
THERE IS
A
CERAMIC
SHOP.

I KNOW.
 WELL,
THEY HAVE
SOME NICE
PIECES.

……

IF WE
IMPROVE BUT
OUR SKILLS, IT’S A
WE’LL BE BIT
ABLE TO EXPEN-
SELL OUR SIVE.
POTTERY
TOO.

12
 TH
THANKS. HERE YOU
FOR YOU. ARE.

IT’S
NICE TO
DO YOU
HAVE A HANG
CHILDHOOD SOME- OUT WITH
FRIEND. TIMES. TOKO
–SENPAI?

IT’S THERE …I JUST

A BIT ARE REMEM-
STRANGE. MANY ONLY
TWO BERED,
CERAMIC TOGEI–BU
SHOPS CLUB
HAS
AROUND MEMBERS
HERE.

13
 …I
WAS
SINCE THINK-
IT’S NAO–CHAN ING
NICE TO AND
SPEND HIME–CHAN
TIME JOINED
TOGETHER. THE CLUB.

WHEN
I’M
SURPRISED
TOKO–SENPAI SO
YOU ARE IS TENSE
SO LIKE THAT,
SERIOUS. I FEEL
VERY SAD.

I LIKE TO
BE WITH I
YOU AND
TOKO I FEEL
–SENPAI. KIND ……
OF
ER
SORRY.

14
 NARUSE–
SAN?
ARE YOU
ALWAYS
HERE?

AH…
YES.

EVEN
TODAY,
HUH? I’M
PLAYING KUKURI– BECAUSE
ARE YOU WITH IT’S
PLAYING YOU CHAN
TALKS. INTERESTING.
WITH TEACHER.
ME!?

I’M
JUST
KIDDING.

……

HIME–
CHAN
MAKES
MIS-
TAKES.

IS AND
TOKO
KIND.
-SAN

15
 AND

LET’S
HEAD
BACK
SOON.

NO,
NOT
TODAY.
 ARE
YOU
GOING
THAT
TO
ONE.
TAKE IT
TO
HER?
NEVER MIND,
MIKA-CHAN.
PLEASE I’M
FORGIVE ME.
I’LL
NEVER SORRY
BOTHER TOKO
YOU –SENPAIIIII!
AGAIN.

18
 THANK
YOU.

LET’S EAT
THEM TOKO
TOGETHER. –SENPAI,
I BOUGHT
SOME
RICE
CRACKERS
FOR YOU.

CAN
YOU AH!
MAKE YOU
DID YOU FINALLY
I’D SOME
BUY CAME
PREFER COFFEE?
A
SNACKS BACK.
CAPPUC- FOR TEA?
CINO.

THANKS.

19
 Club activities in high school in Japan
The Ministry of Education says bukatsudo(club activities)
should be considered relevant to a curriculum. Over 70 percent
of all high school students (grades 10–12) are involved in
bukatsudo. 3/4 of those are 10th grade students. About 80
percent of all students do club activities inside or outside the
school. Most of them do sports, the rest of them belong to
cultural clubs. Over 80 percent of students say that they enjoy
their club activities.

Club activities in high schools of Tajimi.

Sports clubs Cultural clubs
Track and field Brass band
Swimming Chorus
Soft baseball Music
Baseball Fine art
Table tennis Art and design
Judo European painting
Kendo(Japanese fencing) Natural science
Japanese archery Broadcasting
Volleyball Literature
Basketball Calligraphy
Handball Photography
Badminton Pottery
Soccer Tea ceremony and flower
Boxing arrangement
Soft tennis Robot making
Tennis Mechanical system engineering
Electronics
Drama
Japanese harp
A senior, a junior and an advisor Cartoon
Quiz
Seniors instruct juniors, and they work together. Each club
The Community Interaction Club
has more than one school teacher as an advisor. When a
Clothes making
high degree of specialist knowledge is required for the club,
Computer
a coach(from outside the school) is asked for assistance.
Cooking
Students can make up their minds what club to join, so many
Dance
of them do activities independently.
ESS  English Speaking Society
Broadcasting
Bookkeeping
Toko and Mika, character
in Yakunara Mug Cup Mo
Toko has good knowledge of and excellent skills for the Togei-
bu, pottery club. Mika enjoys making things freestyle. Toko
is Mika’s senior at high school. They have known each other
since childhood, so they are like sisters. As they grow up,
they learn about not only Togei (pottery) but good manners,
respect, and considerate attitudes together.

Photos courtesy of Tajiminisi High School INTRODUCTION

Yakunara Mug Cup Mo  vol.2

Published: April 26, 2012

Editing: Yakunara Mug Cup Mo production staff
Publisher: Genkina Tajimi Co.,Ltd.
http://yakumo-tajimi.com
e-mail: otoiawase@yakumo-tajimi.com

Copyright©2012Genkina Tajimi Co.,Ltd. All rights reserved.

It is prohibited to reprint or re-use photographs, illustrations, texts, or manga of this magazine without permission.
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