GifuArt & CraftsSeki
Seki Blades
Swordsmiths gathered here from the 1300s; the town still ships blades worldwide.
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GifuArt & Crafts
GifuArt & CraftsTakayama
Ichii Wood Carving
Carved from yew and never painted, so the wood's red and white heartwood does the work and deepens with age.
Takayama
Hida Shunkei Lacquer
Clear lacquer that reveals rather than hides the grain, so choosing the wood decides the finished piece.
GifuArt & CraftsGujo
Gujo Indigo Dyeing
Dyed in live indigo vats without chemicals, then rinsed in the winter river - a sight the town turns out for.
GifuArt & CraftsGujo
Food Samples of Gujo
Much of Japan's plastic food comes from makers born here - a craft of making a dish look better than the dish.
Takayama
Hida Butsudan
Woodworker, carver, lacquerer and metalsmith each take a stage, the town's carpentry tradition carried into furniture.
Mino
Paper Crafts of Mino
A paper district that also developed the folding and knotting of paper - wrapping and tying as form.
ShizuokaArt & CraftsShizuoka
Suruga Bamboo Basketry
Bamboo shaved into round rods and slotted together - other regions use flat splints, so its curves are unique.
Shizuoka
Suruga Lacquerware
Begun when Ieyasu gathered craftsmen at his retirement capital, and carried from vessels into furniture.
Hamamatsu
Enshu Textiles
One of Japan's three great cotton districts, where mills deliberately keep old shuttle looms to weave a slower, thicker cloth.
ShizuokaArt & CraftsShimada
Shitoro Ware
One of the kilns favoured by the tea master Kobori Enshu, firing dark iron-rich clay into austere tea caddies.
ShizuokaArt & CraftsKakegawa
Kakegawa Kuzufu Cloth
Fibre fermented out of kudzu vine and woven into a silk-like cloth, once used for sliding doors and wall covering.
Fujieda
Kilns and Dyeing of Fujieda
Kiln sites scattered along a river whose clay fed them, and whose water fed the dye houses too.
Shizuoka
Woodwork of Shizuoka
Craftsmen gathered to build the shrine and stayed; the woodworking line runs from altars to furniture to model kits.
ShizuokaArt & CraftsHamamatsu
Instrument Making of Hamamatsu
It began with one man repairing an organ, and became a world centre - a trade needing both woodwork and metalwork.
AichiArt & CraftsNagoya
Arimatsu Shibori Tie-Dye
Over a hundred distinct resist techniques - tied, stitched, clamped - grown as souvenirs for travellers on the Tokaido.
Nagoya
Nagoya Yuzen and Black Crest Dyeing
A restrained, near-monochrome yuzen; the related craft dyes a kimono black while leaving the family crest white.
AichiArt & CraftsAma
Owari Cloisonne
Silver wires outline the design on copper before the enamel is laid in; Meiji exports made it famous worldwide.
AichiArt & Crafts
AichiArt & CraftsTokoname
Tokoname Ware
The oldest and largest of the six ancient kilns; its iron-rich clay fires vermilion, and its teapots are said to soften the tea.
Ichinomiya
Bishu Wool Textiles
Most of Japan's woollen cloth is woven here; the district supplies luxury suiting worldwide alongside Italy.
Okazaki
Mikawa Buddhist Altars
Built inside like a miniature temple, finished by five separate trades working in sequence.
Okazaki
Stonemasons of Okazaki
Masons summoned to build the castle stayed; the town became Japan's source of stone lanterns and figures.
MieArt & CraftsSuzuka
Ise Katagami Stencils
Stencils for dyeing kimono, sometimes cut with over a hundred holes per square centimetre - admired abroad as art in themselves.