Tour Programs
Tracing the Origins of Making
Journeys into Nature, Culture and Human Creativity — Two tour programs, Kyoto and Nagano
Journeys into Nature, Culture and Human Creativity — Two tour programs, Kyoto and Nagano
Where does making come from? At a time when AI is advancing rapidly, the meaning of "what it is to make by hand" is being asked anew.
This tour goes beyond viewing art and craft objects to trace the earth, water, land, and human life that lie behind them: architecture, gardens, microbes, wagashi (Japanese confectionery), knives, and mingei (folk craft). Beneath these seemingly separate fields of making lies a shared philosophy — living alongside nature and drawing on the materials of the land.
| Day | Theme | Program |
|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 Oct 13 (Tue) |
EarthWhat Makes a Place Capable of Making? | Kyoto Station → MIHO MUSEUM → Lunch → Shimamoto Microorganism Co. → Overnight in Otsu |
| DAY 2 Oct 14 (Wed) |
WaterHow Does Water Shape Culture? | Otsu → Kifune Shrine & water source → Lunch → Wagashi-making workshop at Kameya Yoshinaga → Shokudogu Takegami → Overnight in Kyoto |
| DAY 3 Oct 15 (Thu) |
PeopleWhy Do We Continue to Make? | Kawai Kanjiro's House → Dialogue Lunch → Kyōto YouMe Triennale (Shosei-en) |
A museum whose architecture itself speaks of coexistence with nature.
Designed by I.M. Pei, the architect known for the glass pyramid at the Louvre. Modeled on the world of the classical Chinese tale "Peach Blossom Spring," the approach to the museum — through a grove of cherry trees, a tunnel, and a suspension bridge — is itself designed as a "modern-day utopia."
With roughly 80% of the building embedded in the mountainside, the museum embodies not the idea of humans dominating nature, but of architecture dissolving into it, preserving the landscape intact.
Soil is a living environment that nurtures life.
Guided by the belief that "healthy crops come from healthy soil," Shimamoto Microorganism Co. has researched and practiced soil-building that harnesses the power of microorganisms. Rather than treating soil merely as a growing medium, the company views it as a living ecosystem, drawing out its innate strength through beneficial microbes and fermentation — an approach known as the Shimamoto Microbial Farming Method.
Walking the research farm's actual fields, participants learn how soil, microorganisms, and plants interact and cycle together. This idea of nurturing the life force of the soil — rather than "growing" through chemistry — offers valuable insight for the future of making and environmental design alike.
Visiting the origin of the water that nurtures Kyoto's culture.
Kifune Shrine has long been worshipped as the guardian of Kyoto's water sources. Located at the headwaters of the Kamo River, water here has sustained not only life and agriculture, but also Kyoto's daily life, culture, and making. Participants sense the rich water cycle nurtured by the land's terrain and forests, and learn the history of how people and nature have coexisted here.
Lunch is served at Sagenta, a restaurant that makes the most of Kifune's natural, riverside setting. Spending time alongside the flow of the water is itself a way to experience the character of this land.
Water becomes wagashi.
Founded in 1803, the Kyoto confectionery house Kameya Yoshinaga has continued to make seasonal wagashi using Kyoto's fine groundwater. In this hands-on workshop, participants learn how not just ingredients, but the quality of the water, the season, and the artisan's delicate handwork all come together to create a single sweet.
Here, participants experience a distinctly Japanese form of making, in which the invisible quality of water takes shape as beauty and flavor.
A culture of nurturing and passing on tools.
Shokudogu Takegami values the philosophy of "repairing to use for a long time," carrying Japan's knife culture into the present through blade adjustment, honing, and restoration.
Rather than selling new knives, the shop finds value in drawing out the full performance of a single blade and keeping it in use for a lifetime — a stance that epitomizes Japanese making. Participants encounter the knife not simply as a tool, but as a "lifelong instrument" shaped and nurtured by human hands.
Life itself becomes the work.
The potter Kawai Kanjiro regarded not only his ceramics, but his home, furniture, garden, and entire way of life as a single act of creation. Inside the house, ceramics, woodwork, sculpture, and architecture blend seamlessly, embodying the philosophy of "beauty in use." Rather than simply viewing his works, visitors are invited to ask: how should one live, and how should one make?
A lunch that brings the journey together as a single experience.
Through vessels, food, space, and conversation, participants reflect on the acts of making encountered over the three days.
Why do humans make, in the age of AI?
After three days of experience, participants engage with the exhibitions of the Kyoto Youme Triennale, each reconsidering the meaning of "making" from their own point of view.
The Ina Valley region of Nagano Prefecture lies between the Southern and Central Japan Alps. This land still holds onto a way of Japanese living and building culture shaped by life alongside its mountains and rivers.
Rather than simply visiting tourist sites, this tour centers on the theme of "the relationship between buildings and life," inviting participants to experience the culture and relationship with nature that this region has carried forward.
| Day | Time | Program |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | From afternoon | Ohdaira — Mountain village architecture and life |
| Day 2 | Morning｜All day | Ohdaira — Mountain village architecture and life / Local culture, architecture, and the cycles of nature |
| Day 3 | Morning (choice of program) | A: Imada Puppet Theater ／ B: Japanese honeybee visit in Nakagawa Village ／ C: Kominka renovation site & Shiozawa Residence in Shimojo Village |
| Day 3 | Afternoon | Tenryukyo — Apple culture and a farm stay |
| Day 4 | Morning | Tenryu River wasen boat ride → Departure |
Mountain village architecture and life
From the afternoon of Day 1 through the morning of Day 2, participants stay in Ohdaira, encountering the architecture and way of life passed down in this mountain village. Day 2 continues through the full day, exploring the relationship between local culture, architecture, and the cycles of nature.
Imada Ningyo, a traditional performing art passed down in southern Shinshu, offers participants a window into local culture, prayer, and the history of people's daily lives. Through this puppet-and-narrative theater (ningyo joruri), visitors can sense the spiritual culture and values that have been carried across generations in this region.
In Nakagawa Village, a beekeeping culture centered on the Japanese honeybee has long coexisted with the surrounding satoyama landscape. Japanese honeybees quietly live within nature's cycles, moving among the flowers of the land.
During the visit, participants learn about the bees' way of life, their hives, and their relationship with the satoyama, gaining insight into the harmony and cycles of the natural world.
"An environment where bees can live is also an environment where people can thrive."
Through the lives of these small creatures, participants experience a sense of people and nature living together.
In Shimojo Village, participants tour an ongoing kominka (traditional folk house) renovation project and visit the historic Shiozawa Residence. At the renovation site, the focus is not simply on preserving an old building, but on learning how the region's building techniques and the wisdom embedded in daily life can be carried into contemporary living.
Participants experience firsthand the relationship between Japanese architecture and nature — through timber joinery, earthen walls, the use of natural materials, and spatial design that draws in wind and light.
At the Shiozawa Residence, visitors can sense the building culture passed down through the generations, and the Japanese spatial beauty in which house, garden, people, and nature form a single whole.
Through these actual spaces, participants come to understand that architecture is not simply a "building," but a reflection of a region's climate, way of life, and values.
The area around Tenryukyo is known as one of the birthplaces of apple cultivation in southern Shinshu. Blessed with natural conditions such as sharp day-to-night temperature swings, abundant water, and river-terrace terrain, fruit growing has long been woven into daily life here.
Apples here are more than a farm product — they have shaped the rhythm of the seasons, family work, and the landscape of the region itself. Through apple picking, participants sense the local way of life that has grown out of nature's cycles, and the relationship between people and the land.
In the evening, participants stay overnight at a local farmhouse, sharing the food of this land and time with local residents, and encountering the values and culture behind Japanese daily life. Here, a building is more than a place to sleep — it is a space that nurtures relationships among family, community, and people.
A space where the timeless charm of a kominka meets modern comfort. Inside, guests will find thick beams that carry a sense of history, sweeping views that reflect the changing seasons, a nostalgic sunken hearth (irori), a wood-burning stove for relaxing by the fire, and a goemon-buro bath that warms you from the core — a retro, chic space for rest and healing.
On the final day, participants take to the Tenryu River aboard a traditional wasen boat, experiencing a local culture shaped by life alongside the river for generations. The river-boat culture that once supported the transport of goods and people reflects a wisdom of coexisting with — rather than controlling — nature, by reading the flow of the water and the shape of the land.
Taking in the scenic beauty of the Tenryukyo gorge, participants experience the relationship between people and nature with their whole bodies. Afterward, the group departs, bringing the tour to a close.