A facility where you can experience the traditional culture of Miyajima
The Miyajima Traditional Crafts Center – Miyajiman Workshop is located just 100m away from Miyajima Pier. It is a facility where you can try creating special works that are only available on Miyajima Island. There are displays and sales of traditional craft goods including specialties of Miyajima on the 1st floor, while the 2nd floor has the momiji manju workshop, and the 3rd floor has the workshop areas for shakushi-making and Miyajima-bori. The time needed for each workshop is approximately 1 hour. Since reservations are necessary, it is recommended that on reaching the center, reservations be made before looking around.
The nationally-designated traditional craft of woodworking
Miyajima which boasts the highest production of shakushi production in Japan also happens to be its birthplace. Inspired by a suggestion by monks living on Miyajima around 1790, along with the high quality of the material and technique, it is said that the scoops have no odor and rice grains do not stick to them. Another craft is Rokuro Zaiku (turnery) which has been continuing for over 160 years. The wooden products made from the craft are light but difficult to snap and do not become hot. You can feel the gentleness of nature from these examples of woodworking which are simple yet beautiful. The attractive delicate work in Miyajima-bori freely uses relief carving in a 3-dimensional way which brings out the characteristics of the wood. The carvings with the feeling of the World Heritage site of Miyajima are very popular.
Miyajima souvenirs you can make yourself
The Momiji Manju Workshop has professional staff to carefully guide you. You can even wrap the manju that you bake with the equipment provided, and the fillings for the manju are of 2 types: chocolate and sweet bean filling. In the shakushi workshop, the rough surfaces of the new shakushi are polished with paper and then the scoop is branded to finish off. The branding designs include a torii gate, cherry blossoms, and maple leaves along with the kanji characters for Miyajima themselves. The Miyajima-bori workshop where you can carve into round trays and then add color is such an engrossing activity that you will lose track of time.