Year-round
Daily
Arita Porcelain Kiln Tour and Painting Experience
Arita, Nishimatsuura District, Saga
Japanese porcelain began in this town. Arita in Saga is where, four hundred years ago, Japan's first porcelain was fired
Daily
Mashiko Pottery Experience
Mashiko, Haga District, Tochigi
Beauty in the vessels of everyday use. Mashiko in Tochigi is a leading pottery town of the Kanto region, with many studi
Daily
Nishijin Textile Experience
Nishijin district, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto
A single thread becomes a pattern like a cosmos. Nishijin in Kyoto is the home of the luxury silk textile called Nishiji
Daily
Nanbu Ironware Foundry Tour
Mizusawa, Oshu, Iwate
Black, heavy, made to last a lifetime. Oshu in Iwate is the home of Nanbu ironware, known above all for iron kettles. Na
Daily
Hagi Ware Climbing Kiln Experience
Hagi, Yamaguchi
One of the vessels most loved by tea masters. Hagi in Yamaguchi is the home of Hagi ware, long held in high regard in th
通年（要予約）
Echizen Washi: Making Paper in a Valley That Has Made Paper for 1,500 Years
8-44 Shizaike, Echizen City, Fukui
The Echizen valley has been making paper for fifteen hundred years — a claim that sounds like marketing until you see th
通年（各窯元により異なる）
Bizen Yaki: Touching a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition
Imbe, Bizen City, Okayama
Bizen ware uses no glaze and no painted decoration. The colors — the ash glazes that form naturally, the flame marks, th
通年（砂蒸し会館 砂楽）
Ibusuki Sand Bath: Being Buried by the Volcanic Earth
5-25-18 Yunohama, Ibusuki City, Kagoshima
You lie down on the beach in a yukata. The attendant begins to cover you with sand — dark volcanic sand, naturally heate
通年（各体験施設による）
Mino Ware: Shaping the Dishes Japan Eats From
Hisashiri, Izumi, Toki City, Gifu
Sixty percent of Japan's ceramic tableware comes from the Mino region — the dishes in most Japanese restaurants, the cup
通年（要予約の場合あり）
Ryukyu Glass: Blowing Something Beautiful from Broken Bottles
Nishizaki, Itoman City, Okinawa
After the war, there was glass everywhere — bottles discarded by American military bases. Okinawan craftspeople melted t
通年（各工房により異なる）
Kurume Kasuri: Weaving with Indigo-Dyed Thread
Kurume City, Fukuoka
Kurume kasuri begins with thread. Specifically, with thread that has been bound at intervals before dyeing — the bound s
通年（各工房により異なる）
Edo Kiriko: Cutting Glass the Way Tokyo Once Did
Sumida-ku / Koto-ku, Tokyo
The grinding wheel turns, and you press the glass against it. The glass resists, then yields — a shallow cut forming, ca
通年（要予約）
Yuki Tsumugi: Threading the Oldest Silk Loom in Japan
Yuki City, Ibaraki
Yuki tsumugi begins with the cocoon. The silk is drawn by hand from the cocoons, spun by hand into thread, and woven on
通年（各窯元により異なる）
Onta Yaki: Pottery at a Mill-Powered Kiln
Sarayama, Motosakae, Hita City, Oita
Nine kilns. That is all there are, and all there will be. The Sarayama valley in the mountains above Hita City has produ
通年（各体験施設による）
Shigaraki Yaki: Firing a Kiln That Has Burned for Eight Centuries
Shigaraki-cho, Koka City, Shiga
Shigaraki is known throughout Japan for one thing: the ceramic raccoon dogs that stand outside restaurants and shops, ar
通年（要予約）
Tosa Washi: Making Paper at the Source of Japan's Finest
Ino Town, Agawa-gun, Kochi
Tosa washi is made from the water of the Niyodo River system — one of the clearest rivers in Japan, running from the lim
通年（体験事業者により異なる）
Amakusa Pottery Stone: Finding the Material That Made Arita Famous
Amakusa City, Kumamoto
The whiteness of Arita porcelain comes from here. Amakusa pottery stone — a white mineral found in the islands of wester
通年（各工房により異なる）
Awa Ai: Dyeing with Japan's Most Famous Indigo
Tokushima City and Yoshinogawa river valley, Tokushima
The Yoshino River valley in Tokushima was once Japan's largest indigo-producing region, supplying the blue that dyed the
通年（要予約）
Satsuma Kiriko: The Glass That Disappeared and Returned
Kagoshima City, Kagoshima
Satsuma kiriko was invented in the 1840s by the Satsuma domain, which brought in European glassworkers to develop a luxu
通年（各工房の復旧状況による）
Wajima Chinkin: Engraving Gold into Lacquer After the Earthquake
Wajima City, Ishikawa
The January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake damaged Wajima severely — buildings collapsed, fires spread through the histo
通年（各体験施設による）
Kiso Lacquerware: Painting with Tree Sap in a Postroad Town
Narai, Shiojiri City / Kisomura, Nagano
The Kiso Valley was a section of the Nakasendo — one of the two great highways between Edo and Kyoto — and its post town
通年（各体験施設による）
Imabari Towel: Dyeing at the Source of Japan's Finest Cotton
Imabari City, Ehime
Imabari produces more towels than anywhere else in Japan, and has been producing them since the late nineteenth century