in this week’s newsletter: sharing joys of friendship, supporting small businesses, and celebrating the beauty of handmade
dear penpals -
when i first arrived in japan back in august 2022, i actually stayed in tokyo for a few days before making the long journey to kamikatsu to settle down and call home. my sister and i were in tokyo where we did a few touristy things and met up with her friends. and one of the friends i got to meet was amanda.
we decided to have dinner together at a chinese restaurant, since the three of us were missing good, authentic cantonese style food that reminded amanda of home, and my sister and i of our dad’s cooking. we walked into the tiniest of tiny restaurants and i remember feeling like we stepped into hong kong. and one of the reasons why is because, mid-way through our conversation, after realizing that my sister and i could understand cantonese, there was a joyful switch in having parts of our conversation in amanda’s mother tongue.
to be honest, i can’t remember much of the conversations we had, but what i do remember is thinking that this person is a really joyful person. and that joy was so evident in her way of welcoming people into conversations and taking the time to get to know them.
what originally would have been a quiet dinner with friends, turned into a combined gathering with the group of people sitting at the table next to us, who just so happened to also be from hong kong, that lead to a full on conversation in cantonese. in less than 5 minutes, our little group took over the restaurant and brought that loud, animated, cantonese-style energy to what would have been the typical quiet tokyo restaurant culture (sometimes silence is overrated hahah).
i remember ending the dinner thinking how much fun it was to get to know amanda and found her joy to get to know others very warm and welcoming.
since then, amanda has visited kamikatsu multiple times (earning her the title of an honourary inaka person!), we’ve weathered through a typhoon together, played endless amount of boardgames, and i’ve had the chance to build a deep friendship with her that has grown into something very special.
and as i got to know her better, i’ve had the chance to witness her passion and dedication to her art. as a ceramicist, i’ve learned so much about her process, her inspiration, and her journey in creating absolutely beautiful pieces of artwork, and knew that somewhere down the road i wanted to own one of her pieces.
for a while, i’ve been quite interested in japanese tea ceremonies, and after seeing it in person and trying it a few times myself, i knew i wanted to have my own set to share this tradition with family and friends back in canada. but a part of me didn’t want just another factory made set - i wanted the story behind it to be meaningful.
so, in april, i reached out to amanda and commissioned her to create a custom tea bowl set, because what better story behind it than for it to have been made by a dear friend. and the results were beyond anything i could have imagined it to be.
so when amanda visited kamikatsu last week, and hand delivered my pieces, i felt a huge wave of emotions of deep gratitude to have her artwork with me. and on top of what already was a huge joy, she then surprised me with a video of her process making this tea bowl set for me. when i tell you i cried in her arms, i mean it.
click on the image or link to the video here!
for more of her work, because she’s a freaking genius and artist and all around wonderful human being, check out the following links and send her some love! you’ll never find a better ceramicist than her!
AMANDA TONG CERMAICS
website · https://www.amanda-tong.com/
instagram · https://www.instagram.com/amandatongceramics/
facebook · https://www.facebook.com/amandatongceramics
youtube · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkw6ntYbJFc4A-10AZGVMmA/videos
dearest amanda -
it truly is such a joy and honour to have your artwork a part of my life and home forever. there’s truly no one else i would have wanted than you, to make this special piece as a reminder of my life here in kamikatsu / japan. for your friendship, your kindness, your unwavering joy that you bring to my life, i’m so grateful to call you my friend.
Absolutely beautiful!
The tea set looks stunning! 😍 Such a special piece