Shizuoka City launches two day craft itinerary tracing 400 years of heritage

Shizuoka City has introduced a two-day regional craft tourism itinerary centred on hands-on artisan workshops and the traditional bamboo exhibition “Take, Hikari” (translated into “Bamboo, Light”.)

The route includes the historic Tokaido post station of Mariko and the mountain hamlet of Utsunoya. Shizuoka produces more than 80 percent of Japan’s domestic plastic model shipments, a manufacturing heritage originating 400 years ago when artisans assembled to construct Sunpu Castle, Kuno-zan Toshogu shrine and Shizuoka Sengen Shrine. Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku serves as the focal craft facility for the itinerary, having opened in 1999 and undergone renovation in 2021 under architectural design firm Sozosha.

The bamboo exhibition runs at the facility’s craft museum from 11 December 2026 to 8 February 2027, showcasing Suruga fine bamboo craft alongside an illuminated tea room designed by Shigeru Uchida. Takumishuku houses four specialised studios where visitors can dye tote bags using unmarketable local green tea leaves, weave fine bamboo, craft lacquerware, or assemble scale models in a space supervised by model manufacturer Tamiya.

The itinerary also includes culinary and accommodation heritage across the district. At Chojiya, a 430-year-old thatched-roof restaurant registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property, visitors can take part in a two-hour workshop grinding local wild yam with house-made white miso aged for six months. For overnight stays, Craft Inn Waraku offers lodging in a renovated century-old house furnished with local crafts, situated near the Fukisarashi-yu bathhouse, which opened in January 2025 using reclaimed timber beams assembled through traditional log carpentry.

Walking trails lead to Togekyo Saiya-ji, a sixteenth-century temple featuring a registered historic borrowed-scenery garden, and the Meiji Tunnel in Utsunoya, a brick passage opened in 1876 as Japan’s first toll tunnel. Admission to the “Take, Hikari.” exhibition is free, while artisan workshops, culinary sessions and lodging require advance online booking.