英文訳が記事の下にあります。イモリ谷の中高生の諸君、英語の勉強をしよう！！

いきいき　マイライフ

　We’ve long stuck to the monoculture of raising rice, and thereby have made it almost impossible to work in other ways. We now understand that there are various ways of making a living and we think diversity enriches our community. Therefore, we not just admit to our valley those who work differently from us but welcome them. Mr Kanamori is our first potter and our pride.

 The following is a gist of an article from the June 30th issue of the Asahi Shinbun(newspaper).

   Ｍｙ　ｌｉｆｅ　ｉｎ　ｈｉｇｈ　ｓｐｉｒｉｔｓ

Mr. Mituaki Kanamori

Human hands and feet from a faucet, a small cabinet with a drawer in a human tongue shape. They look a little eery. When I first saw them I was struck with fear,but I couldn’t keep them from my memory. Who made those things, I wonder?
 

　It is ten years since Mr Mituaki Kanamori(38), together with his wife Hiroko (36), moved to Ajimu, Oita-ken, started his career as a potter and made his home.
 

 He was born in Gifu-ken in central Japan. Even in his childhood he liked to draw strange pictures. After studying formative arts in Nagoya he worked in a pottery, where he met his future wife Hiroko-san.
 

 They made a tour of Mexico and Guatemala. After they came back, they wandered westward, until they found themselves in Ajimu. They took to the place at once. “It’s rural but very rich in a way.”

 
 They repaired a dilapitated farmhouse and started their newly married life. The husband works in the workshop alongside of the house while the wife bakes bread with natural yeast. They hadn’t looked for a country life, but without noticing it they find themselves in that way of living.

 
 According to Hiroko-san’s wish that she’ll bear her child in her daily settings, they brought forth all of their four children in their home without any help.

 
　He looks at pottery with the same tenderness and naturalness. At the request of  a lame man he produced a doll with a small right leg and a very big left leg, which he meant for the first step to take. He also produced coffee cups with unusually large handles for the people who have trouble in the hand. They thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

 
 He has exhibited his works in Oita, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa and other various places. He has received recognition and fame, but he has no intention of changing his lifestyle.

His wife and children, natural features of Ajimu, and slow and peaceful daily routine help him produce eeri, at first sight, but strangely warm works.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Trancerated by Hideo Fujigaki    July,6,2002