Carve a pair of chopsticks from Nara cedar over a hundred years old, shaping it with your own hands.
Learn where the wood comes from, what the shape of a pair of chopsticks means, and how both are tied to Nara. A pair of chopsticks stops being a utensil and becomes something with a storey behind it.
Your finished chopsticks, and a deer chopstick rest made from Nara pottery, become a souvenir that brings Nara and Japan back to your table every day.
One hour, simple and enjoyable. Families, couples, friends and solo travellers are all welcome.
You step into a machiya in Naramachi and, over a cup of hojicha that puts the noise of the street behind you, we run through how the session will go.
Holding a piece of cedar over a hundred years old, we talk about where the wood comes from, the meaning held in the shape of a pair of chopsticks, and their deep connection to Nara.
After watching your host work, you shave the wood thin, one pass at a time, with the faint scent of cedar in the room, until the pair sits comfortably in your own hand.
From how to hold them to how to care for them day to day, we pass on the small courtesies that keep a pair in use for years.
Your finished chopsticks are wrapped in cloth and handed to you together with a deer chopstick rest made from traditional Nara pottery.
If you would like, your Nara-born host will point you towards local shops and lanes that no guidebook lists.
Take home a one-of-a-kind souvenir, made by your own hands.
Choose a Nara deer chopstick rest to take home as well.
