The WoodCraft Tour

Castle ceiling timber beams with massive scarf joints

Castle ceiling timber beams with massive scarf joints

 
 

Discovering Japanese culture through wood

The Japanese have an esteemed heritage of working with wood, honed over centuries of creative skill and ingenious craftsmanship. On this tour we will explore various types and methods of woodcraft, both traditional and modern, and their beautiful results, coming to a deeper appreciation of the aesthetic sensibilities of this unique culture. This tour coincides with Kyoto’s quiet and pleasant early autumn.

Note: The 2024 Kyoto WoodCraft Tour will be a once only tour

Tour Dates: Nov. 3 - 12, 2024

9 nights, 7 fully-guided days, 1 free day

Price: On request

Group size: 10 people

Included:

  • 9 nights accommodation, 7 fully-guided days, 1 free day

  • Welcome and Sayanara dinners are included, featuring Kyoto’s ‘kaiseki’ cuisine

  • Breakfast and lunches each day (local dining for dinner on your own)

  • Limo bus to/from KIX airport and all group transportation

  • All museum, studio and garden admissions

Tool shop in downtown Kyoto with block planes and other specialty woodworking tools

Tool shop in downtown Kyoto with kana planes, chisels and other specialty woodworking tools

A few highlights:

• Hike amid ancient cedars to a Shinto forest shrine

• Visit 400 year old ‘no nail’ wooden structures along with modern machiya renovations

• Meet with craftsmen in their studios, shops and on-site

• Traditional machiya construction & renovation, with hands-on tool demonstration

• Shinto Shrine and Buddhist temple carpenter’s ‘miya-daiku’ studio

• Shoji-screen making shop

• Takenoko bamboo products crafts shop

• Karhu woodblock printmaking studio

• Kohseki woodworking shop - specializing in lanterns and tea-room architecture

• Kondo handmade bucket & cup studio, tool demonstration

• Visit temples with prime examples of Buddhist carved wooden statues

• Enjoy specialty museums

• Miyazaki Traditional Furniture Museum

• Kitayama Cedar Center and cedar forest products

• Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, (on a day-trip to Kobe)

  • Explore Rakusai Chikurin botanical bamboo garden, the only one of its kind in Japan

  • Shop for quality wood-working tools at specialty stores

  • Discover the many charms of Kyoto, an exceedingly safe city full of artistic treasures and culinary delights, in the quiet and pleasant early fall season.

 
 
Elaborate kumiko wooden screen at the Takenaka Carpentry Museum in Kobe

Elaborate kumiko wooden screen at the Takenaka Carpentry Museum in Kobe