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Recently, I watched a TV program, "NHK Special" featured 'Nomonhan Incident'.
While watching the program, I remembered that once I read a book by Haruki Murakami, which was written about his travel to Nomonhan. The title of the book is "Henkyo, Kinkyo" (Outland, Nearby land), which contains "Graveyard of irons in Nomonhan".

Murakami saw a photo of ”Nomonhan Incident” in a history book when he was an elementary school student. Since then, he couldn't get the image out of his mind for some reason.

Later, he read books about 'Nomonhan Incident' when he found ones but the number
of them wasn't so many. Then, he lived in America for several years. At that time, surprisingly, he found old Japanese books about 'Nomonhan Incident' in the library at Princeton University, where he belonged to. So he continued to read the books there, too.

Murakami says that he has an extreme interest in the incident, perhaps because the war was very Japanese in a sense.

In the "Graveyard of irons in Nomonhan", the brutal way to Nomonhan, the vast plains in Mongolia, where trenches and tanks remain, his terrifying experience due to things that he took back, are described in detail, which are like watching a documentary.

Murakami's belief about the war, of course, was worth reading, but also the depiction of a small female wolf's eyes prepared to die, which was shot by their guide, a Mongolian military man, was so realistic and sad that it made me cry.
*It is said that, without fail, Mongolians kill wolves when they find one.
(H.S)

Yachimun means pottery in Okinawan language.
Yachimun has a 400-year-old history, and it is a craft that represents Okinawa.
That said, it is also very practical.

For yachimun, the soil of Okinawa is usually used. And yachimun is characterized by colored glaze such as indigo, amber and green made from Okinawan plants. Arabesque and fish patterns are the traditional ones for yachimun. And recently, on the basis of tradition but ones made by new sensitivities could often be seen.

Jiro Kinjo (1912-2004), who was a living national treasure, continued to make yachimun which people use in daily life, which was highly evaluated and he was chosen as a first living national treasure in Okinawa. Then, young generations followed him and now they became the leaders of modern yachimun.

Yachimun has simple colors, easygoing designs and warm textures, so you can use in daily life without hesitation. If you arrange Okinawan cuisine on a yachimun plate, you can feel a bit of Okinawan atmosphere. Among yachimun, there are many reasonable ones, so I recommend it as a token of travel. （H.S）

Yachimun which I collected every time I visit Okinawa