[Unit Project1] The Industry of My Region

 My artifact is onigawara. Onigawara is the tile of decoretion in ridge of Japanese building. Onigawara has meaning of amulet. It  has face of demon. The size of it is about the same as a smartphone. It is made of clay. Onigawara is made of baked clay. The clay contains gravel. The color of onigawara is gray. 

I did a part-time job during this year’s summer vacation. In part-time job, there is experience corner to make onigawara with clay and I teach customers how to make there. The facility is called “Kawara tier” and opened in July of this year. My region is famous for tile industry. I want to learn my region and get useful skills in society through my part-time job, so I decided to work there. The staff of the facility are very kind. I learned from them how to make onigawara and how to teach customers it. When I cleaned the room of Kawara tier for the first time, Mr. Kamo, one of the staff said to me, “be careful when you move onigawara which customers made. It is very soft and easy to lose shape before it dries completely.”

“I will be careful it.” I said without thinking too much.

However, I’ve lost my concentration and some of onigawara are big and have sharp horns. I broke sharp of a harp. I tried to fix a harp before it dries. Fortunately, I could fix a harp. I learned that it’s important to think carefully about and understand people’s story. I should ask people if I don’t understand. By doing it, I think mistakes decrease and it leads to understanding of the tile industry.

           Few people are interested in the tile industry, so the tile industry is in decline. Moreover, the number of onishi who is a craftsman who makes onigawara is decreasing and there are only two onishi in my area. If the tile industry declines further, onigawara on the roof will disappear.

           Part-time job has serious labor problems. First, it is length of working hours. Some people can’t get enough sleep or interfere with our studies due to a part-time job. Second, there is a problem with being forced to work shifts of part-time job. This problem give us mental damage and bad influence on our studies.