With the fall season upon us, so begins each city’s own celebrates. During the second weekend of September, Morioka had its Autumn Festival, which celebrated over 300 years of history. Within the city, smaller organisations are also now hosting their own festivities. This includes Morioka’s Handiworks Village (手づくり村, te dzukuri mura), an interactive, cultural history site popular amongst residents and visitors alike.
Here, you can watch local craftsman perfect their art, learn the stories behind them, and purchase some of their creations. Every once in a while, there are also opportunities to get some hands-on experience yourself. Last weekend, they had a “Craft House Festival” (工房まつり), so Honey and I thought it would be the perfect time to visit.
If you’re thinking about visiting yourself or just curious about what’s in store, this blog will be your guiding light.
The Handiworks Village
Morioka’s Handiworks Village is located at the far western side of Morioka city. Surrounded by mountainous terrain, this tourist destination is actually a large plaza square. But, it exudes the rural atmosphere of a village with its numerous crafting workshops and skilled artisans.
When you first arrive at the Village, just beyond the parking lot is actually a small trail, leading to the surrounding forestry. Sometimes people come to take walks, but most come for exploring the plaza’s workshops.
At the edge of the parking lot is a convenient and colourful area map.
Once you go beyond that and turn a corner at the end of a short street, you’ll see a huge building, which also serves at entrance to the square.
This building is not only an exhibition hall, but also has community rooms, a café, and a gift shop. Entrance to the workshop areas is free, and a look at the historical museum costs only ¥100.
We decided to save those things for last, and went ahead to the main area.
Indulge in their artwork
As a part of their festival event, the Handiworks Village was doing a giveaway sweepstakes for various prizes, from as small as senbei (rice crackers) from the gift shop, to pair vouchers at a local onsen hot spring. All you had to do was answer a questionnaire and go around the workshops, looking for hiragana letters to spell a word.
This gave us the opportunity to thoroughly explore each of the crafts. Among them were wood-carved toys, house goods made from straw and rice stalks, beautiful armoires, and iron works–the pride of Iwate Prefecture’s craft industry.
We also came upon a dyed fabrics shop, which made anything from small trinkets to clothing. It’s said that the women of this craft have their hands stained permanently blue, a testament to their dedication to their profession.
It was great seeing all these handcrafted pieces, but then I spotted my weakness–a wagashi (和菓子, traditional Japanese confections) shop.
There, we saw many different types of mochi sweets and yokan (羊羹, thick jelly dessert), as well as odango (お団子, sweet rice dumplings).
With so many flavours to choose from, Honey and I decided on two to share. So, we took a rest at a nearby tree stump and munched away on our cheese (チーズ) and takoyaki (たこ焼き) odango.
Both started as simple mitarashi dango (御手洗団子, sweet soy sauce glazed). One was topped with a thick layer of cream cheese, and the other with typical takoyaki (octopus balls) additives–shredded nori, Bulldog sauce, and pickled red ginger.
And while both were tasty, I think we’ll be less adventurous next time and stick with the more traditional tastes instead.
After our little snack, we continued wandering throughout the workshop area. We completed our event survey, then settled down at a potter’s, where we admired his craft and got a little crafty ourselves.
Let’s get crafty
As a part of the matsuri, this particular workshop was open for crafting business. Its hands-on experience was simple but fun for people of all ages. Interested patrons could paint a small, circular or heart-shaped dish for ¥400. After the craftsman gave us a brief explanation of how to handle the paints, we went to town with our own designs.
Having been the last day of the festival, the Handiworks Village was not crowded, so the workshop was empty save for two young girls and their parents, seated beside us.
We worked in silence for about half an hour, really taking our time with our painting. The whole experience was very relaxing.
And we were proud of our finished product. But we still have 2-3 more weeks from today before we can take them home with us (out-of-town travellers can have theirs mailed). For now, they’re sleeping in the workshop’s kiln.
So, we bid farewell to our pieces and returned to the central square of the Village. We dropped off our finished questionnaires, then took a look at more hands-on stations.
One of those included making reimen at the Handiworks Village’s own Pyon Pyon-sya, the restaurant known for popularising this cold noodle dish in Morioka and Iwate Prefecture.
Participants first make their noodles from scratch, then watch them boil before topping with the classics: pickled cucumber, a slice of meat, hard-boiled egg, sesame seeds, and as much spicy kimchi-like sauce as you please.
Honey and I weren’t hungry for a whole bowl of noodles, so we decided to put a pin in noodle-making at this time. Instead, we dipped in the senbei workshop instead, where a line of people eagerly awaited this ¥100 making opportunity.
An elderly woman first prepped a cylinder of dough, and visitors got to flatten it themselves to the size of a guide on the table. Then, it’s placed onto a small iron press loaded with roasted peanuts. Over the bench of flames, each person controls its cooking process: flip every 30 seconds, 6 times total.
And voilá! You have yourself a nambu senbei (南部煎餅), a large cookie or biscuit type of senbei traditionally topped with nuts or black sesame seeds.
There’s nothing better than enjoying a snack that’s literally fresh-off-the-grill. Hot, mildly sweet and salty, the middle of this cookie was buttery and moist while the “ears” (耳, mimi) or edges added a pleasant crunch.
It was the cherry topper on our craft-filled day. Though some of these experiences might only be for special events, people also have the chance to sign up for a variety of classes with a few workshops at any time. Prices vary with the product being made.
For now, we had our fill of crafts and decided to sit back and enjoy other festival activities.
Festival performances
And what better spells Morioka other than a Sansa performance?
As Morioka’s largest event of the summer, hundreds of people come from other cities to watch every year. Just the same, hundreds of people participate in the festival itself as taiko drummers, dancers, or flautists. One small group demonstrated their style of dance at the Handiworks Village Festival, and also quizzed the audience on the history of Sansa.
After watching their show, Honey and I took a look at some of the food vendors, an absolute must at any Japanese matsuri. There was a man hand-cranking kakigori (かき氷, shaved ice) and another selling huge slabs of bacon and other meats.
Though both were attractive options, we decided to get a bottle of apple cider from a group who fundraises for ocean welfare and chijimi (チジミ, Korean-style pancake) to go along with it.
We took a seat in a shady area as the afternoon sun crept in, munching away at our food. Then, we took a long look at the gift shop.
Really, we were trying to kill time, waiting for what I think was the biggest attraction of the day’s festivities–
The giant senbei demonstration.
We saw it on the event website and knew we couldn’t miss it. As it neared the hour of demonstration, we saw staff roll out a grill or oven of sorts to pre-heat.
Then, on the hour, a commentator started to explain this event. Basically, they were making a senbei similar to the regular sized ones visitors can make. He stressed that this is more of a ‘cookie’ type as the staff began spreading the huge ball of dough onto the hot surface.
After it was sufficiently thinned out, they added the peanuts. A whole lot of them too.
They closed the iron press and locked it in place with various iron loops and bolts, and flipped it over. If you think a cast iron pan or tea pot is heavy, imagine flipping something as huge–not too mention, hot–as this contraption.
Every 5 minutes, the two workers would flip the press, a total of four times. Twenty minutes later, the head staff–I’ll call him the senbei boss–unlocked the press and gingerly prodded at the edges of this large cookie to check for doneness.
Once he deemed it ready, he loosened the outside with a regular chef’s knife, and then began hammering away at the top and bottom of the press. With an actual hammer.
Then, the reveal!
They scraped off the “ears” of the cookie and began cutting it into square pieces. The knife went through so smoothly, as if it were butter.
Now, how many people could this giant senbei feed? The senbei boss said the dough could make likely 200 regular-sized ones. For this demonstration, they made thick cookies instead.
As soon as they finished cutting it up, everyone amassed into a long line, eagerly awaiting the piping hot treat.
And yes, it was really, really hot. I had to use my sleeve to hold my square, and even then it was still quite warm. Regardless, everyone–including me and Honey–immediately began munching away at these tasty morsels. It was fluffy and comparable to a brownie, though less chewy.
After everyone had their piece, both Honey and I couldn’t resist, and grabbed another! It was the perfect way to end our trip to Morioka’s Handiworks Village. Chances are, we might come another time to more deeply enrich ourselves in Iwate’s history.
Learn the history
This time around, we enjoyed the events as attractions, but there’s a lot to learn about the Handiworks Village.
For example, one of the buildings they have on site is known as nanbu magari-ya (南部曲り屋), an L-shaped house common in Iwate during the Edo Period. They are homes which connect to an un-floored working area and stable (馬屋, uma-ya).
During that time, this area was known for raising horses, a keystone of the agricultural industry and hence why the joined rooms were so important. This restored home gives the people of today insight in the lives of the past.
And so do the artisans who open up their workshops to the public.
So whether you like watching others diligently work at their craft, like to get a little crafty yourself, or enjoy some cultural history, Morioka’s Handiworks Village is a can’t miss visiting opportunity.
—
-Waifu ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
Because I'm Waifu 