Masaka!

Nobody believed it would happen.
17 years in Japan of which 14 in Fukuoka - where it is said that big typhoons or earthquake don`t come. Well the saying lied.

A bull came into our china shop and shook our pots to shards. Potter is certainly the worse occupation in an earthquake. On the 3rd day of the Fukuoka Marine Messe All Japan Pottery Fair the earth shook. Shortly before 11 AM on Sunday 20th March just as customers were starting to arrive and the mood of the day was set, the earth moved. Having experienced the great Hanshin earthquake in Kyoto I thought it was just a magnitude 3 tremor at first. Then the shaking increased and it was hard to stand. Pots started to fall all around and there were cries of fear around the hall. An old lady standing just in front of my booth had her legs weaken under her. I flung my arms around her to protect her from anything that might fall from the ceiling. Meanwhile there was havoc all around. On every exhibition stands and shelves, pots were thrown to the floor and shattered with a sound I don`t ever want to hear again. The bull had charged.

To their credit, the staff handled the situation very well and people were evacuated in a very orderly fashion. But lives had been wrecked, potters from all over the country had came to sell their wares. Many pieces were unique and can never be replaced. Hours of dedicated work gone in a moment! How many lost their livelihood? Luc Foucher
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