MIYAJIMA TRADITIONAL CRAFTS CENTER
1165-9 Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi-shi, Hiroshima
Tel: 0829-44-1758
Hours: 8:30 – 17:00
Closed: Monday, Year end and new-year holidays
https://miyajimazaiku.com/
CRESIT: Cash only for experience
Miyajima Zaiku is the over 200-year-old wood crafting tradition of Miyajima. The art includes three techniques: shakushi carving, the origin of Japanese rice scoops; rokuro ziaku, a kind of woodturning; and Miyajima bori, a carving technique that makes images rise out of the wood. These arts were brought to the island by craftsmen sent from Kyoto and Kamakura to build Itsukushima Shrine. Miyajima zaiku is so esteemed in Japan that the leaders who attended the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima were gifted rokuro zaiku turned confectionery bowls by Hatsukaichi City.
Today you too can carry on the tradition at Miyajima Traditional Crafts Center by carving your own wooden tray and rice scoop. In the “Miyajima-Bori Carving Experience,” under the careful guidance of a craftsman, you’ll carve a maple leaf design into a 15 cm, round tray and paint it with traditional gansai watercolors. The whole process takes an hour and costs 2,200 yen.
In the “Shakushi Making Experience,” participants use a branding iron to create designs such as deer, maple leaves, and the Grand Torii Gate on a pre-sanded rice scoop. The experience takes about 45 minutes and costs 550 yen. Whether you make a decorative tray or a rice scoop at Miyajima Traditional Crafts Center, you get to take what you make home as a one-of-a-kind souvenir.
