Folding Screen Factory Tour and Muntin Workshop

【OUTLINE】

In this experience, you will use a technique called "Kumiko," which is also used in folding screens, to make coasters by putting the wood together like a puzzle.

【HIGHLIGHTS】

• Visit Ominato Bunkichi Shoten, a company known for paper and wooden crafts since the 1860s.
• A workshop to learn kumiko, traditional Japanese wooden latticework.
• Create kumiko, without nails or glue, as artisans have been doing for centuries
• See how craftspeople make the patterns for byobu, Japanese old-style paper and wooden folding screens
• Create Japanese latticework crafts in a workshop run by professionals
• Witness the construction of traditional Japanese folding screens during a factory tour.

【SCHEDULE】

[10:30]　Factory tour (2nd floor shoji wall)
[10:45]　Kumiko Workshop
[11:15]　Tour of the shop
[11:30]　End

【DETAILS】

Ominato Bunkikichi Shoten is mainly a manufacturer of traditional Japanese folding screens. The company has been developing processing techniques of Japanese paper and wood since its founding at the beginning of the Meiji era (the late 1960s) in Kamo City, Niigata Prefecture. Kamo City is often called Northern Niigata’s “little Kyoto.” Today the company makes various kinds of products, including beautiful kumiko, which means muntin in English. Kumiko are finely cut wood that artists connect without glues or nails to create intricate patterns. The kumiko creations are sometimes integrated into folding screens. In this workshop,
you can make a coaster of kumiko while communicating with local craftspeople.

【THINGS TO NOTE】

• Duration：60 minutes
• Meeting point：Ominato Bunkichi Shoten Co.,Ltd. [MAP]
  1-26 Akifusa, Kamo city, Niigata 959-1356
• Access：
  ■ In the case of a car
  30 minutes by taxi from Tsubamesanjo Station
  10 minutes by taxi from Kamo Station.
  ■ By public transportation
  Tsubamesanjo Station→JR Yahiko Line Higashi-
  Sanjo Station→JR Shinetsu Main Line Kamo Station
  10 minutes from Kamo Station by taxi (30 minutes on foot)
  
• Language support：Japanese
• Included：
  ・Kumiko workshop experience fee
  ・materials cost
  ・factory tour
  ・takeaway of Kumiko
• Excluded：Transportation
• Participation requirements：Please consult with us if you are in a wheelchair.
• Free Wi-Fi：Yes
• Toilet：Yes (Western style)
• Other things to note：
  ・When touring the factory, please do not touch anything that the guide is not talking about.
  ・There is a possibility of missing a piece of wood. Spares are available.
  ・There is a steep staircase in the facility.

【CANCELLATION POLICY】

7 to 4 days before the tour date: 40% of the tour price
3 to 2 days before the tour date: 60% of the tour price
The day before the tour date, on the day of the tour: 100% of the tour price