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  • Suggested Itineraries
  • Eastern Area
  • Southern Area

Two-day cultural experience – Kumihimo silk braiding and pottery-making.

Schedule

Day 1

Tokyo Station

  1. Tokyo Station → JR Tohoku Shinkansen (via Yamabiko for Nasu) 40-min ride to Oyama station

Yuki Tsumugi Kimono Dressing at the Oyama Honba Yuki Tsumugi Craft Museum

1

Experience wearing an authentic Yuki Tsumugi Kimono!

The Oyama Honba Yuki Tsumugi Craft Museum offers visitors the experience of wearing an elegant kimono made from the fine silk textile “Yuki Tsumugi”. The process of refining the traditional Yuki Tsumugi silk is inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In order to allow people to fully appreciate the comfort of their garments the museum provides all-day kimono rental including kimono and obi with dressing assistance included free. Enjoy a day of rambling around the traditional streets of Oyama before returning your kimono by 6pm. Come and experience the light and warm texture of genuine Yuki Tsumugi!

  1. Oyama Station West Gate → 25-min ride by O-bus to Ichigo no Sato bus stop

Ichigo-no-Sato Farm

  • Time Required: 60 minutes
2

Pick your own fruit at this family-friendly farm!

From December to May enjoy picking your own fully ripened Tochiotome strawberries here at Ichigo-no-Sato Farm. Besides strawberries, the farm offers a variety of other fruits such as cherries, grapes and blueberries depending on the season. There are cafes, an Italian buffet restaurant and shops providing a wide range of products made with freshly picked fruits. Seasonal events are held at the studio such as cake baking classes and jam making workshops.

Ichigo-no-Sato Farm is a grower of “Tochihime” strawberries, a variety only grown and consumed in Tochigi. The large fruit of the “Tochihime” is softer and sweeter than that of the “Tochiotome” variety. Come and sample “Tochihime” and compare the two tastes! The farm’s excellent value Pick-Your-Own and meal offers are popular for families and for group days out including breakfast in the morning or dinner in the evening.

  1. Ichigo no Sato → O-bus (20-min ride → Oyama Station → JR Utsunomiya line (5-min ride) → Walk (10 min)

Mamada Kumihimo Braid-making Experience

3

Experience the exquisite craftsmanship of braiding

Mamada Kumihimo is a traditional Japanese cord created by hand braiding. The cords were used in the armour of Samurai warriors long ago. Today the silk woven cords have a wide range of uses such as bolo ties, obi-himo ties used to secure the obi of women’s kimonos and haori-himo ties in the men and women wear short coats over their kimonos. Try your hand at making your own strap with the vegetable-dyed, pure silk threads made from domestically grown cocoons at a traditional Mamada cord shop.

  1. Walk (10 min) → Mamada Station → JR Utsunomiya line (5-min ride) → Oyama Station → Mito line (20-min ride) → Shimodate Station → Moka railway (45-min ride) → Mashiko Station → Rental bike (15 min)

Mashiko Yuwakan Gozasho (imperial chamber) and Peace Gallery

4

Mashiko Yuwakan was originally established in Meiji 15 (1882) in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture as the Nanma Hotel. His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus stayed there during the war as evacuating school children when he was Crown Prince . The Gozasho, where he heard the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War over the The Jewel Voice Broadcast at the end of the war, remains to this day.

The Mashiko-ware pottery kiln in Mashiko was relocated to its current location in Showa 48 (1973), and was donated to the town in Heisei 28 (2016).
The building was renovated and re-opened as Mashiko Yuwakan with the hope to pass on the value of this building not only as a town treasure, but also as a national treasure to future generations.
Currently, the Peace Gallery is exhibiting newspapers from the end of the war and panels showing the relationship between Tochigi Prefecture and the Imperial Family. In the Gozasho, which retains the appearance of those days, the full audio of the The Jewel Voice Broadcast is available to be listened.

※Masaiko Yuwakan has been renovated while keeping the original charm of the time it was built, so there are steep stairs and steps.
Please be aware that the facilities are not barrier-free. We thank you for your understanding.

Day 2

  1. Rental bicycle (5 min)

Mashiko Ceramic Art Club・Old traditional Japanese house (Kominka Furuki)

5

Travel back in time in this relocated, reconstructed 200-300-year-old, traditional Japanese house.

Enjoy a pottery experience, accommodations, and cuisine. Amenities include barbecue equipment, a traditional charcoal-fired sunken hearth, a pizza oven, and self-catering options.
Individual travelers and groups alike are welcome to enjoy a rich variety of wonderful experiences.
(Please make reservations via our website)

  1. Rental bicycle

Lunch

6
  1. Rental bicycle

Tonoike Shuzo

7

This brewery produces an array of choice sake and received a gold medal at the Annual Japan Sake Awards for its Sanran-daiginjo brew. Their facility tour is popular with tourists, where the brewer explains its history in detail. Come learn about the tradition and techniques of sake production.

A gift shop on the grounds sells choice brews and cosmetics made with sake. Enjoy coffee brewed with the same water used for the sake, sweets with sake lees, a sake tasting set, and more at their café.”

  1. Rental bicycle

Michi-no-Eki Mashiko

8

The 24th roadside station opened in Tochigi

Michi-no-Eki Mashiko” is a roadside station offering fresh local produce and local products and crafts at the “Mashiko-no-Marche” as well as reasonably-priced lunches with freshly picked vegetables at the “Mashiko-no-Gohan” restaurant. The information centre “Concierge” provides information on tourism, special exhibitions and workshops, along with advice on moving to the town and booking rental space. Please find more information on their website.
  1. Rental bicycle (30 min) → Mashiko Station → Moka railway (13-min ride) → Moka Station → Ichigo bus (2 min) → Momenkaikanmae or walk (15 min)

Kubo Memorial Tourism and Cultural Exchange Center

9

There are souvenirs of Moka here.

The residence of Sadajiro Kubo, an art critic connected with Moka City, has been given new form as a tourism center. There are a total of five buildings here, which include a Tourism Product Promotion Center and an Italian restaurant, in addition to historical buildings consisting of an Art Exhibition Hall built in 1923, a Tourism Town Development Center built in 1879, and the Kubo Memorial Hall built in 1907.
  1. Walk (15 min) → Moka Station → Moka railway (25-min ride) → Shimodate Station → JR Mito line (22-min ride) → Oyama station → JR Tohoku Shinkansen (via Yamabiko for Nasu) 40-min ride to Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

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