Aomori
— the city the snow keeps writing on.
Not only on a wall.
“The capital of Aomori Prefecture, set on Mutsu Bay at the northern end of Honshū. One of the snowiest cities of its size on earth — average winter accumulation runs to nearly eight metres on the surrounding hills. In early August the Nebuta Matsuri sends enormous lacquered paper floats down the streets, lit from within, while the rest of the year the city tends its apple orchards and its harbour.
Aomori, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Aomori City lies on the southern shore of Mutsu Bay at the northern tip of Honshū, separated from Hokkaidō by the Tsugaru Strait. With roughly 270,000 residents it is the capital of Aomori Prefecture and the southern terminus of the Seikan Tunnel, the undersea railway opened in 1988 that connects Honshū to Hokkaidō. The Hakkōda Mountains rise immediately to the south. The surrounding prefecture produces about half of Japan's apples, with cultivars like Fuji and Tsugaru first developed in local research stations during the twentieth century.
The Nebuta Matsuri runs from 2 to 7 August and counts among the three great festivals of the Tōhoku region. Around twenty large lantern floats — wood and wire frames covered in painted washi paper, each lit from inside and depicting kabuki warriors or mythic figures — are pulled through the city by teams of haneto dancers. The festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1980. The accompanying taiko drums and flutes carry for blocks above the crowd.
The city receives some of the heaviest snowfall of any major urban area in the world, averaging close to eight metres per winter on the slopes above town and over six metres in the city itself. The snow comes off the Sea of Japan, lifted by the Hakkōda range that walls off the south. Roof clearing is a winter occupation; the Hakkōda Ropeway above the city draws skiers from December through May for the dense rime-frosted firs known as juhyō, or snow monsters, that grow up the windward face.