Iiyama city (Nagano), Japan: Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio + Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry + Iiyama City Museum + Soba restaurant Kowana; things to do + restaurant review

Paper making, crafts displays, and tasting soba noodles in Iiyama city, Japan

Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio  

Iiyama city.  Tu-Sun 9am-5pm.  Make 1 postcard/210 yen.

sign for Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio in Iiyama city, Japan

Instructor Masumi Hirata came here 12 years ago.  At Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio, you can learn from her how delicate traditional papers have been fashioned for almost four centuries.  Because of the heavy snowfall in this area, people couldn’t farm in winter.  They started making paper from the Japanese mulberry tree, using the bark that they they bleached white with snow.  This craft is dying out as the craftsmen die, and no one replaces them.  Nowadays fine paper is made only in small studios like this, and this special class provides the opportunity to make your own sample post card.

instructor Masumi Hirata at Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio
in Iiyama city, Japan

mulberry bark drying outside Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio
in Iiyama city, Japan

instructor Masumi Hirata demonstrates paper-making
at Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio in Iiyama city, Japan

students decorate cards in paper-making
at Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio in Iiyama city, Japan

sample card in paper-making at Iiyama Handicraft Paper Studio
in Iiyama city, Japan

Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry + Iiyama City Museum  

1436-1, Iiyama city, 389-2253.  Tu-Sun, 9am-5pm.  300 yen.

exterior of Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry
in Iiyama city, Japan

Just next door, this museum appropriately displays a collection handmade Japanese paper as well as Buddhist altars and displays of traditional crafts of the Nagano prefecture--lacquer ware, wood furniture, silk thread, hand-forged cutting blades, and wood-turning.

woodworker figure at Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry
in Iiyama city, Japan

dyed silk thread at Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry
in Iiyama city, Japan

contemporary art at Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry
in Iiyama city, Japan

laquer-ware pink cat altar in gift shop
at Iiyama Museum of Traditional Folk Industry
in Iiyama city, Japan

Soba restaurant Kowana (also referred to as Soba-dokoro Korin)  

1200 Iiyama Burari-hiroba, Iiyama, +81 269-63-2978.

welcome to Soba restaurant Kowana in Iiyama city, Japan

My lunch at this nearby family-run spot was a tasting of finely crafted buckwheat soba noodles served in a variety of fragrant broths.  Buckwheat flour used for the noodles is cultivated organically and mixed with natural water from Kijima Hirauchiyama.  Diners are encouraged to sprinkle a little bit of salt on a bite of soba before eating it with the spicy soup.  Yakumi (green onions and wasabi) are provided only by request, so that you can enjoy the original sweet flavor of soba.  As we left, our guide exclaimed, “It was the best soba noodle I ever had!”

interior of Soba restaurant Kowana in Iiyama city, Japan

artistic appetizer plate at Soba restaurant Kowana in Iiyama city, Japan

soba noodles plate at Soba restaurant Kowana in Iiyama city, Japan

father and son chef team at Soba restaurant Kowana in Iiyama city, Japan

All about soba.

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images and video ©2020 Carole Terwilliger Meyers