Take a trip to experience Hokuriku crafts and manufacturing at the Open Factory

Discover the charm of traditional crafts in Hokuriku - Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama

Hokuriku (Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama prefectures) is a hub of traditional crafts , where a variety of techniques have been handed down. Just among the nationally designated "traditional crafts," Fukui prefecture has seven, Ishikawa prefecture has ten, and Toyama prefecture has six . In addition, there are many other crafts designated as prefecture-designated or rare traditional crafts.

Fukui Prefecture (seven nationally designated items): Echizen lacquerware, Echizen washi paper, Echizen Uchihamono (forged knives), Echizen pottery, Echizen chests, Wakasa lacquerware, Wakasa agate crafts

Ishikawa Prefecture (10 nationally designated items): Kutani ware, Kaga Yuzen, Wajima lacquerware, Yamanaka lacquerware, Kanazawa Buddhist altars, Kanazawa gold leaf, Nanao Buddhist altars, Kanazawa lacquerware, Ushikubi pongee, Kaga embroidery

Toyama Prefecture (six nationally designated items): Takaoka copperware, Inami sculpture, Takaoka lacquerware, Shogawa woodturning, Ecchu washi paper, Ecchu Fukuoka sedge hat

Crafts have always been a part of the everyday lives of Japanese people, but in recent years, due to changes in lifestyles and living spaces, the spread of mass-produced goods, and an increase in imports from overseas, traditional crafts that require a lot of time and effort to be made by hand have become rare and expensive , and some crafts have become issues regarding the survival of production areas and a lack of successors.

On the other hand, Japan's traditional crafts are attracting increasing attention from overseas, and the number of people looking to purchase exquisite items that are imbued with Japanese character, aesthetic sense, and history, as well as tourists interested in visiting the places where these crafts are made, is rapidly increasing.

[Fukui Prefecture] Takefu Knife Village: Visit and experience knife and blade making

"There are days when most of the visitors are from overseas, and I get the impression that there are many overseas visitors who ask more enthusiastic questions and study more than Japanese customers," says Yuji Totani, a knife sharpener at Takefu Knife Village in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture .

Tourists from Europe, America, Asia, and all over the world come here to enjoy factory tours, knife-making experiences, shopping, etc. The world map, where visitors are asked to mark where they are from, is filled with many marks every year.

Takefu Knife Village was established in 1993 by 10 Echizen cutlery workshops, and is a facility that manufactures and sells Echizen cutlery, which boasts a 700-year history , and serves as the cooperative's base.

Generally, manufacturing sites for traditional crafts are not open to the public, and it is difficult to see them, but Takefu Knife Village is a rare open factory industrial tourism facility in Japan where you can observe blacksmiths and sharpeners at work at any time. Panels introducing the history of Echizen blades and tools are on display, and from the observation slope you can get a panoramic view of blade companies manufacturing their own products.

You can see the craftsmen hammering red-hot steel and sharpening blades without any glass or other barriers, and the realistic sounds of blade-making echo through the space.

The exhibition and workshop are free to visit and are open during business hours , however, it is recommended to visit on weekdays as the craftsmen are off on Sundays and public holidays.

The new shop, which opened in 2020 , sells products from the 14 companies that belong to the cooperative, as well as Takefu Knife Village brand products that were created in collaboration with the cooperative. There are a wide variety of knives, kitchen knives, sickles, kitchen tools, and more, and the variety of knives alone is surprising.

The origins of Echizen blades date back to 1337, when Kyoto swordsmith Chiyozuru Kuniyasu visited Fuchu (present-day Echizen City) in search of land suitable for sword making. He made sickles for the local farmers and passed on his swordsmithing techniques .

Echizen Uchihamono knives, which are made in the style of swordsmiths, are characterized by their beauty and sharpness, like that of a Japanese sword. They have thin, beautiful blades, and are highly regarded and popular among chefs both in Japan and abroad for their sharpness. Each maker has their own unique blade pattern and shape, and the shape also varies depending on the purpose.

The appeal of Takefu Knife Village is that you can see, touch, and choose from all of them in one place. You may be confused about which knife to choose when you see so many lined up, but there are English-speaking staff available , so please ask for their help and find the perfect knife for you.

One of the attractions of Takefu Knife Village, a joint workshop where many workshops and craftsmen gather, is the hands-on classes taught by active craftsmen. There are three types of knife-making classes, which can be experienced by making a reservation at least one week in advance.

The two courses, "Ko-deba Sharpening" and "Ryo-ha Sharpening," involve sharpening the base material already in the shape of a knife with a whetstone to attach a blade and then attaching a handle to complete the knife . The experience takes 1-2 hours and costs 5,000-6,000 yen. You can take the finished knife home on the same day, and you will also be taught how to maintain it.

Furthermore, the "Double-edged Knife Class," where you can experience making a full-scale knife, is especially popular with foreign tourists. You can experience almost all the steps, from heating the material and forging it with a hammer, to hardening, sharpening, engraving the name, and attaching a handle. The duration is 6 hours, and the experience fee is 20,000 yen. It's worth spending a whole day trying, as you will end up with a one-of-a-kind knife that you have made yourself! Of course, you can take it home on the same day.

Echizen City, where Takefu Knife Village is located, and the neighboring cities of Sabae and Echizen Town are major production areas for a variety of traditional crafts, including Echizen washi paper, Echizen lacquerware, and Echizen pottery, which have a history of 1,500 years . We recommend taking your time and visiting over a two-day or two-night trip.

With the opening of Echizen Takefu Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen in March 2024, access by Shinkansen from Tokyo will become more convenient . If you are traveling by car, the nearest stations are Takefu IC and Sabae IC on the Hokuriku Expressway . If you want to visit various craft factories, studios, and shops in the area, it is best to use a taxi or rental car as they are scattered around.

Knife making classes, factory tours, shopping, maintenance

https://www.takefu-knifevillage.jp/service

Reservation for knife making experience

Takefu Knife Village

[Location] 22-91 Yokawacho, Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture

TEL 0778-27-7120

[Business hours] 9:00~17:00

[Closed] Open everyday (except New Year's holidays)

[Fee] Free admission, additional fee for craft experience

https://www.takefu-knifevillage.jp

[access]

Approximately 10 minutes by car from Echizen Takefu Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line, approximately 15 minutes by car from Takefu Station on the Happy Line Fukui line

Approximately 10 minutes by car from Takefu IC on the Hokuriku Expressway

[Toyama Prefecture] Experience Takaoka, the town of casting, on a factory tour of "Nosaku"

Nousaku, located in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, is a popular casting manufacturer that produces tableware and interior goods that make use of the characteristics of tin. Takaoka has been a casting production area for over 400 years since the Edo period , and is home to many copperware manufacturers and casting workshops.

Nousaku was founded in 1916 as a casting manufacturer producing Buddhist altar implements , and later produced tea ceremony utensils, flower vases, sake ware, etc. In recent years, its original tableware and interior items made from tin, the third most expensive metal after gold and silver, have been creating a buzz, and the company has been gaining attention both from within Japan and overseas as a casting manufacturer representing Toyama and Takaoka.

The new building, which was relocated in 2017, not only houses the offices and factory, but also a shop, a cafe restaurant, and a workshop where customers can experience casting. Guided factory tours are held five times a day, making it one of the prefecture's leading tourist spots with an industrial tourism theme .

As you enter the building through the impressive brass tiled entrance, you'll see colorful objects lined up on the walls. These are the wooden molds that are essential to Nousaku's castings, and they are not displayed as decorations; the huge glass-walled space is used as a "display warehouse" to store around 2,500 wooden molds. There are gaps here and there that are spaces that used to house the wooden molds that craftsmen are currently using in the factory.

Upon entering the building, to the left there is a shop, a cafe restaurant, and a workshop. The shop has a wide variety of products on display, including vases, sake cups, tumblers, chopstick rests, and wind chimes. The cafe restaurant serves meals and sweets in tinware made by the company, so you can experience how easy it is to use.Tin tumblers have excellent thermal conductivity, so you can put cold drinks in them or put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes to chill them in no time. Try drinking water from the water server in the building and experience it for yourself.

Tin has many characteristics, such as its flexibility, which allows it to be shaped by hand, its ability to remove unpleasant flavors from drinks and make them smoother, its excellent thermal conductivity, and its antibacterial properties. The "KAGO" series, which transforms from a flat surface into a three-dimensional basket, and the tumblers, whose rough cast surface helps to create good foam in beer, are products that make the most of tin's properties .

Nousaku's products, born from traditional techniques and flexible ideas, are excellent in design and functionality. Try using them and you'll understand why they attract so many people.

The highlight of a visit to Nousaku is the factory tour, where you can see up close how these products are manufactured, and the casting experience. When you visit the casting site with the guidance of a guide staff, you can feel the smell, temperature, and atmosphere on your skin, and even feel the passion of the craftsmen who are carrying on the tradition .

In the casting experience, you can make pewter products such as sake cups using a method called green sand casting, in which sand is compressed to create a mold . The 90-minute course for junior high school students and above allows you to make sake cups (small cups), small bowls, small plates, chopstick rests, etc. for 3,000 to 4,000 yen (excluding tax). The relatively easy 30-minute course for elementary school students and above allows you to make a cute chopstick rest.

You can also have numbers or letters engraved on your creation, which you can take home on the same day. Factory tours and casting experiences require prior reservations and can be made on the official website, by phone, or email. When making a reservation, you can also request an English-speaking guide.

Factory tour: https://www.nousaku.co.jp/factory/tour

Casting experiencehttps ://www.nousaku.co.jp/factory/imono

Factory tour and casting experience reservations

NOUSAKU

[Location] 8-1 Office Park, Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture

TEL 0766-63-0001 (9:00~17:00)

[Business hours] 10:00-18:00 (cafe closes at 17:30)

[Closed] New Year's holiday (Factory tours are closed on Sundays and public holidays, and irregular Saturday holidays)

[Fee] Free admission, free factory tour, separate fee for casting experience

https://www.nousaku.co.jp

[access]

Approximately 15 minutes by car from Shin-Takaoka Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line, approximately 20 minutes by car from Takaoka Station on the Ainokaze Toyama Railway

Approximately 3 minutes by car from Takaoka Tonami Smart IC on the Hokuriku Expressway, approximately 20 minutes by car from Takaoka IC

[EVENT] Once a year, the workshop is revealed to the public! Let's go to the open factory event!

Open factory events, which offer a wide range of programs that allow you to visit traditional crafts and manufacturing sites all at once and experience making things, will be held in the Hokuriku area from Friday, October 31 to Sunday, November 3, 2024. Why not take this opportunity to visit workshops and factories that are not usually open to the public?

[Fukui Prefecture] RENEW / 2024

[Period] November 1st (Friday) - November 3rd (Sunday), 2024

https://renew-fukui.com

[Venue] Sabae City, Echizen City, and Echizen Town in Fukui Prefecture

[Kawada Information Center] Urushi Village Hall (40-1-2 Nishibukuromachi, Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture)

Approximately 20 minutes by car from JR Echizen Takefu Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen

About 20 minutes by car from Hapiline Fukui Sabae Station

Approximately 15 minutes by car from Sabae IC on the Hokuriku Expressway

[Imadate Information Center] Okamoto Post Office Moto Tatami Edge Factory (11-21-1 Shinzaike-cho, Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture)

Approximately 10 minutes by car from JR Echizen Takefu Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen

Hapiline Fukui: Approximately 20 minutes by car from Takefu Station or Sabae Station

Approximately 15 minutes by car from Takefu IC on the Hokuriku Expressway

[Access] https://renew-fukui.com/access

Please refer to the venue map for access to each venue : https://www.google.com/maps

"RENEW" is a hands-on manufacturing event that takes place once a year and is representative of Fukui Prefecture. It is the largest open factory event in Japan, where all the workshops and companies in the production area are open to the public, allowing you to experience the techniques and passion of the craftsmen that you would not normally be able to experience.

The Echizen Sabae area of Fukui Prefecture, where the event will be held (including Sabae City, Echizen City, and Echizen Town), is a major manufacturing center where traditional crafts such as Echizen lacquerware, Echizen washi paper, Echizen forged knives, Echizen chests, and Echizen pottery, as well as local industries such as glasses and textiles, are concentrated within a 10km radius.

The event is centered around factory tours and workshops. This year, the 10th year since the event began, the largest number of companies and factories to date, about 80, will open their doors to the public.

For example, even under the general term "Echizen washi," each workshop and craftsman has their own personality and specialty, so you can encounter completely different works even in neighboring workshops. No matter how many workshops you visit, you will never get bored, as there is not only paper for writing or drawing pictures, but also paper made to look like lace that is popular for interior use such as wallpaper and lighting, paper with three-dimensional patterns embossed, strong washi that does not tear even when pulled, and washi made using traditional methods that is ordered by name from art museums around the world for the restoration of old paintings.

During the tour , you can freely enter and exit the workshops and shops, and one of the attractions is that you can directly communicate with the craftsmen. The OFFICIAL TOUR is also held by reservation only, so it is highly recommended for those who are unfamiliar with the local area.

Many hands-on workshops are also held, allowing visitors to enjoy hands-on craftsmanship such as lacquering, papermaking, and eyeglass making. Recently, 35 factory shops selling products directly from the workshops have opened, making shopping even more enjoyable. There are also talk events, restaurants where you can enjoy food and traditional crafts, food trucks, and local food sales, so this is an event you'll want to take your time to enjoy, touring the production areas.

RENEW OFFICIAL TOUR Details and Reservations

GEMBA Manufacturing Expo

[Period] October 31st (Thursday) – November 3rd (Sunday), 2024

https://gemba-project.jp/expo

[Venue] Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture

[General Information Center] GEMBA Office (EATLAB, 96 Sonomachi, Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture)

[access]

Hokuriku Shinkansen JR Komatsu Station, IR Ishikawa Railway Komatsu Station, Komatsu Airport

Please refer to the venue map for access to each venue : https://gemba-project.jp/expo/#access

The GEMBA Monozukuri Expo is an open factory event that began in 2011 in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, to open up the "Genba," the place where things are born. In 2024, 52 experience and tour programs will be held at 40 factories and workshops over the four-day event period .

Komatsu City has its roots in the making of jasper beads, which was carried out during the Yayoi period about 2,300 years ago, and is home to a wide range of manufacturing industries, including stone, Kutani ware, textiles, machinery, building materials, and ironwork. The "GEMBA Monozukuri Expo" is a once-a-year opportunity to open up factories and workshops that are usually difficult to enter, and to enjoy casual experience and tour programs .

There are many planned tours and workshops related to traditional crafts, including tours of studios that produce "Kutani ware," a traditional craft representative of Ishikawa Prefecture, as well as experiences with painting and pottery, as well as a workshop where craftsmen make "sashimono," joinery that is made without the use of nails, and "hikimono kiji," the base of lacquerware .

In addition, a wide range of programs will be offered, from traditional crafts that represent Japan to giant manufacturers with global market share, such as Komatsu, a global construction machinery manufacturer that is essential to the story of Komatsu's industrial history, a textile factory that receives offers from the world's top fashion houses, a sake brewery, and a food manufacturer.

Some programs require reservations, some don't, and some have participation fees, while others are free. Please see the official website for details of each program and its location.

Program details and reservations