Attending a craft workshop is an excellent way to learn about Japanese culture, meet artisans and other travellers, and create your own memento of your time in Tokyo.
Please note that due to Japan’s flexible zoning laws, some of these craft classes take place within apartments that are set up specifically for this use.
Here are classes some we think you’ll enjoy.
Cloth Sandals: Merikoti (Ryogoku)
Merikoti, a stunning store that makes modern versions of nuno zori (cloth sandals), also offers workshops in English.
Originally made from old towels, and worn by Japanese wood cutters to protect their feet from splinters, Merikoti has modernised the form with modern fabric and funky designs.
In the three-hour class you’ll get to choose from a vibrant selection of fabrics and ribbons to design and make a unique pair of sandals that truly reflects your personal style.
Glass Cup Engraving: Sokichi (Asakusa)
Bright jewel-like colours and intricate geometric patterns are the hallmarks of Edo Kiriko glassware, a traditional, cut glass method that was created in Tokyo in 1834.
At Sokichi, an Asakusa glass factory that supplies luxury drinkware to local bars and restaurants, you can join a workshop (90 or 120 minutes, held in English) to learn to hand (and machine) carve your own glass.
Once you choose which glass cup to use, you’ll need to decide on a design from the 100 different pattern templates on offer. Then, under staff supervision, you’ll get to carefully hand and machine engrave your pattern on the sides and bottom of your glass, and even sign it.
Incense Making: Koju (Ginza)
Established in Kyoto in 1575, Koju, one of Japan’s oldest incense manufacturers offers a variety of workshops at their beautiful Ginza shop where they also sell incense sticks, candles and fragrance oils made from organic gums and resins.
Koju holds a 40-minute class where you can create your own incense pouch with a mix of essential oils and fragrant powders.
Each class is limited to three people, and they book out fast, so make your reservation early and also advise the company that you’ll need a translator present.
Kintsugi Ceramic Repair: Mon Cadeau (Shibuya)
Kintsugi (golden joinery) is the aesthetic Japanese craft of repairing broken pottery with luminous powdered gold and urushi lacquer (made from the sap of the urushi tree).
Originating in the 15th century, the craft embraces the beauty of imperfection and flaws, with damaged pottery pieces being treasured as a part of the object’s history, and honoured, in restoration, with distinct golden highlights.
Mon Cadeau offers modern kintsugi classes that use quick-drying glue and gold-coloured paint, so that after the two-hour class you can take your ceramic home with you.
All materials are provided and matcha (green tea) and wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery) are served at the start of the class.
Manga Drawing Class: Manga Dojo Tokyo (Ikebukuro)
Ever wanted to draw manga like a pro? Brush up on your skills at Manga Dojo Tokyo, where artist Kazuo Maekawa, the illustrator of the Ace Attorney manga series, leads a two-hour class with the assistance of an English interpreter.
You’ll learn how to use a G-pen, the most popular pen used by manga artists, design your own original characters, and experiment with techniques to create shading, depth and patterns.
The highlight of each class is creating your own yonkoma manga, a comic that consists of four vertically aligned panels that tell a short story.
Origami: Origami Kaikan (Yushima)
There’s no better place to learn the gentle art of paper folding than at Origami Kaikan, the world’s only origami centre.
Originating as a Shintō ritual, origami involves folding a single sheet of square paper into a sculpture without marking, glueing, taping or cutting it.
Get an introduction to the art form at one of their 30-minute classes (held in English) and then stock up on origami kits, instructional DVDs and colourful paper in the gift shop.
If you’re lucky, Origami Kaikan’s owner and paper-master Kazuo Kobayashi will be in attendance to display his dexterity as he turns flat sheets of paper into moving insects, blooming flowers and, of course, the quintessential paper crane.
Sample Food Making: Ganso Shokuhin (Asakusa)
Join a group of like-minded, faux-food-fanciers at this one-hour class, and learn how to replicate your favourite Japanese dishes into a wax model.
Instructors will show you how to make a sampuru (fake food display) of tempura, sashimi or gyoza by pouring melted wax into a hot-water bath, shaping the wax into a food-like form and transferring it into a cold-water vat to harden.
You get to keep your food sample as a souvenir, but may need to warn friends that the tempting bowl of deep-fried pork proudly displayed in your dining room is non-edible.
If you’ve been bitten by the sampuru-making bug head to the other side of Asakusa for a one-hour workshop at Food Sample Cafe to create a delicious looking plate of omurice (an omelette made with fried rice).
Sashiko Embroidery: Canoha (Ogikubo)
Sashiko, which translates to ‘little stabs’, is our favorite type of decorative, hand-stitched embroidery, both for its beauty and because it embodies the philosophy of mottanai which emphasises valuing materials and minimising waste.
Created during the Edo era (1603-1868) as a stitching technique to patch and repair work clothes used by farmers and fishermen, today sashiko-style embroidery is seen on handbags, tablecloths and even sneakers.
At Canoha’s two-hour class (with an English-speaking instructor) you’ll get to create your own sashiko drink coaster by learning the moyozashi style of embroidery, where geometric patterns are created with long lines of running stitches.
Shibori Cloth Dyeing: Wanariya (Asakusa)
Looking to squeeze every last drop out of your trip to Tokyo? Then we think you should sign up to do a shibori workshop where you’ll get to vigorously fold, twist and tie cloth with thread and then dye it indigo to create beautiful patterns.
Known as a traditional Japanese tie-dyeing technique, shibori dates back to the Nara period (710–794) but it became super popular during the Edo era (1603-1868) when it emerged as a method to renew old clothes.
During this period there were laws restricting working class people from wearing silk and cotton, so they turned to shibori—with its striking patterns and vivid indigo hues—to decorate and preserve their hemp clothing.
At their Asakusa studio, Wanariya conducts 60 to 90-minute classes where you’ll use traditional shibori techniques to make products like tote bags, t-shirts, scarves and sweatshirts look utterly contemporary.
Your instructor will walk you through the dye fermentation process in basic English before demonstrating how to create one-of-a-kind designs by encircling marbles with rubber bands.
After donning protective aprons and gloves, you’ll get to dip your objects into the indigo dye vats up to four times to obtain the hue of blue you desire. Your piece will then be de-alkalized in vinegar to settle its colour, and rinsed and dried for you to take home.
Washi Paper Making: Ozu Washi (Nihonbashi)
Ozu Washi has specialised in the manufacture of washi paper—made from the bark of the kozo (paper mulberry) tree—since 1653, when it was used by Buddhist monks to write sutras (scriptures).
The delicate, textured paper is made by steaming the kozo bark to soften it and expose its inner fibres, which are then mashed to form pulp. This pulp is mixed with water and glue in a sukifune (a deep wooden tub) to create a thick slurry.
Next, the paper solution is scooped up using a sugeta (a wooden framed screen) which is shaken back and forth to build up layers of fibre, and to let the extra glue and water run off.
This process is repeated up to four times until a paper sheet with the desired thickness is formed. The papermaker then places the fresh wet paper sheet on a stack of newly formed sheets which are left to drain naturally.
Once dried the strong, thin paper can be used for calligraphy, book and printmaking and to construct lanterns and shoji (semi-translucent paper screen doors).
Ozu Washi conducts hands-on 45-minute workshops at their store (which also houses a gallery and cultural centre) where you’ll learn how to make plain and patterned washi paper and get the opportunity to decorate it with pressed flowers and gold leaf.
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