Experiences in the Kiso Valley
-木曽谷体験-
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For fast walkers, a hike from Magome to Tsumago Juku can be finished in a morning. After having lunch there may still be time to enjoy in the area. Or perhaps you didn’t come here to hike, and want to get hands on and try something new in the Japanese countryside. Here are some experiences that can be enjoyed as a half day that are easily accessible from Tsumago Juku. Please contact us to check availability and for more details.
Rokuro-Zaiku (Wood Spinning)
-ろくろ細工-
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About the experience:
Located about 15 minutes drive from Tsumago Juku is a small hamlet full of wood-spinning artisans. Here several shops line the street, each one selling hand made products from the ancient art form of rokuro-zaiku. The official name for a rokuro-zaiku artisan is a kijishi. And the history of kijishi goes way back to the 1500s. From around the 1800s records of the kijishi of Nagiso town begin and many of the current artisans are real life descendants of these family lines. Here you can meet a modern day kijishi, then learn about rokuro-zaiku for yourself before trying the art for yourself. Today artisans use electrical tools to make superior products, but back in the days before such things, the wood-spinning tools were all powered and operated by hand. In trying this experience, you will experience rokuro-zaiku the old fashioned way, and at the end of the experience, you will have your very own wood-spun plate.
Recommended Combination:
This experience goes excellently after a hiking tour from Magome to Tsumago. However, to fit it all into one day you have to be fast hikers.
Price:
In the case that this experience is added onto the end of a hike from Magome to Tsumago, the translation/guide will not charge any additional costs. The customer will pay around 5,000 JPY per person to the rokuro zaiku shop to pay for the experience. In addition, transport costs are not included. Taxis may be necessary, costing around 5,000 JPY one way from Tsumago. Public buses cost 300 JPY one way but are very sporadic.
In the case that you are doing this as a stand alone tour, please add 30,000 JPY to the above costs to pay for your translator/guide.
Lacquerware Painting Experience
-木曽漆体験-
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About the experience:
In the small town of Hirasawa just about 30 minutes north of Narai Juku on foot, and one stop on the trains, lacquerware shops line the street. Hirasawa was once the premier producer of Japanese lacquerware and, to this day, the sleepy town is still home to several masters of the ancient craft. Here you can look around the shops, and, if booked in advance, you may be able to paint your very own lacquerware item with the assistance of a master craftsman. For the experience itself you will be decorating a lacquerware item using traditional techniques. The experience will take around 30 minutes to 1 hour as well as some additional time spent learning about the craft and looking around the shops.
Recommended Combinations:
This experience works excellently after a hike from Yabuhara to Narai.
Prices:
In the case that this experience is added onto the end of a hike from Yabuhara to Narai, the translator/guide will not charge any additional costs. The customer will pay around 3,000-5,000 JPY per person (depending on the item they choose to paint) to the shop to pay for the experience. In addition, transport costs are not included.
In the case that you are doing this as a stand alone tour, please add 30,000 JPY to the above costs to pay for your translator/guide.
Soba Noodle Cooking Class
-そば打ち-
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About the experience:
Around a ten minute drive from Tsumago Juku is a community store. Local people teamed together to make a shop that can used to hold events, workshops, and sell the products of local artisans and farmers. For this experience a local soba chef will teach you how to knead, roll, and cut your own soba noodles. You can eat your creation straight away afterwards or take it with you to try later that night.
Prices:
In the case that this experience is added onto the end of a hike from Magome to Tsumago, the translation/guide will not charge any additional costs. The customer will pay around 1,500 JPY per person to the shop to pay for the experience. In addition, transport costs are not included. Taxis from Tsumago Juku cost around 2,000 JPY one way. Buses from Tsumago cost . Public buses cost 300 JPY one way to Nagiso Station, a 15 minute walk from the shop. On foot, the shop is about a 60 minute pleasant walk from Tsumago Juku.
In the case that you are doing this as a stand alone tour, please add 30,000 JPY to the above costs to pay for your translator/guide.
Recommended Combinations:
If being booked as a stand alone tour, this experience can be combined with the below wara-zaiku experience. They both take place at the same facility and can both be enjoyed in a slightly longer half day.
Traditional Japanese Straw Craft
-藁細工-
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Around a ten minute drive from Tsumago Juku is a community store. Local people teamed together to make a shop that can used to hold events, workshops, and sell the products of local artisans and farmers.
The locals that run it are friends of mine and they allow me to use it for my very own straw craft workshops. I have been studying the ancient craft of wara-zaiku, or straw craft, since 2020 and I am currently the only non-Japanese master craftsman in the world. My teacher is Yuji Sakai, who makes Japan’s sumo rings. For this brief introduction to wara-zaiku, we will make straw turtles together. Turtles are auspicious animals in Japan which are mythically known to live for 10,000 years. Hanging a straw turtle in your house, brings long life those who reside inside.
Prices:
In the case that this experience is being added onto the end of a hike from Magome to Tsumago, the translation/guide will not charge any additional costs. The customer will pay around 1,500 JPY to rent the space. In addition, transport costs are not included. Taxis from Tsumago Juku cost around 2,000 JPY one way. Buses from Tsumago cost 300 JPY one way to Nagiso Station (the shop is an additional 15 minute walk). On foot, the shop is about a 60 minute pleasant walk from Tsumago Juku.
In the case that you are doing this as a stand alone tour, please add 30,000 JPY to the above costs to pay for your translator/guide.
Recommended Combination:
This experience can be combined with the above soba noodle cooking experience and all enjoyed in a slightly long half day.
