Gifu: The gift that keeps on giving

The Japanese hotspot where culture and craftmanship go hand in hand

A four-day road-trip around Gifu Prefecture at the centre of Japan’s main island, Honshu, produces many “only in Gifu” moments. More often than not, these moments revolve around craftsmanship that dates back centuries and embraces nature, history and tradition.

Awesome artisans, it turns out, are the backbone of Japanese culture.

In the prefecture’s historic northern town on Takayama, the workbenches of Hachino Carpentry, are strewn with repair projects. The wing of a butterfly from a festival float is missing a big chunk, a large wheel is waiting for a gold leaf refresh, and ribbons of transparent cypress shavings scent the air.

Says carpenter Yasuaki Hachino, “Techniques are important, but I believe our mental strength is more important. Our job requires mental and physical strength and sophisticated techniques.”

We make chopsticks under instruction from Ikeda Yoshihiko, who uses a tiny hand lathe (he calls it “soft power”) to shave into shape a stick of hinoki (cypress) held firm in a block of harder oak. The shavings are as fine as floss. The ends of the chopsticks are smoothed with sandpaper, the length cut to suit the user.

True blue

At Watanabe Dyehouse in the castle town of Gujo Hachiman, we watch 15^th generation indigo dyer Kazuyoshi Watanabe dip a long cotton runner attached to arched bamboo hangers into tubs of indigo dye. 

Watanabe knows the dye is ready when the fabric turns – oddly – bright jade green. It gradually becomes “Japanese Blue” after contact with air and oxygen in the river water. The concertinaed towel is dunked in pristine mountain water a dozen times.

Clothing dyed with indigo is said to have deodorant, antibacterial, and insect repellent properties, which made it the Samurai’s colour of choice on the battlefield. Indigo fabric is also used to protect silk kimono from moths.

Watanabe Dyehouse makes store signs and tapestries, coats for festivals, totes and purses, and table runners, as well as seasonal festival items like carp banners. Each pattern is drawn by hand, sticky rice glue used as a colour blocker.

Fake food at its finest

Gujo Hachiman is also the town of fake food, used to simulate menu items in food outlets. Food samples, made with wax or silicon, give customers a realistic idea of what their food selections will look like without wastage. In 1932, local businessman Takizo Iwasaki was the first to commercialise food samples in Japan after experimenting with an omelette.

The Sample Kobo workshop is housed in a retro, 150-year-old townhouse. We put on white milk-maid style aprons, line up a vinyl-resin prawn, a slice of pumpkin and half a small green capsicum and, with Noriko Maehata’s guidance, set about drizzling hot golden wax into cold water to become the “tempura” coating we will shape around the fake food. We spoon a circle of green wax, add some white wax and, after careful scrunching and shaping – voilà – a convincing lettuce.

Blade-runners

Seki is a rural town located in central Gifu. Fortified by mineral rich mountains and materials, it has the means to create the sharpest blades in the world. Once a centre of samurai sword-making, it now attracts chefs and home cooks after fine blades for everyday use.

Foodies go just a little crazy at Hamonoya Sansyu, the cutlery shop which sells special-purpose kitchen knives, scissors and nail clippers. Cutler Sansyu is the only place to purchase clay-tempered kitchen knives made by traditional Seki swordsmiths Fujiwara Kanefusa.

The blade is the quintessential representation of Japanese tradition, discipline, and craftsmanship. Many swords made by the 25th and 26th generation of Fujiwara Kanefusa in Seki are on display and for sale. At the Seki Hamono Museum you can purchase a sword while listening to stories from traditional Japanese swordsmiths. Perhaps the elegant “Honsekito” with a price tag of 40 million yen (the equivalent of A$410,000) might be your memento?

Seki Hamono Museum offers a selection of curated displays and interactions – guests can witness and even participate in forging Japanese steel under the guidance and expertise of Sanshu’s master blacksmith. There is something thrilling about pounding steel that’s come from a furnace whose temperature is 1500 degrees. A Zen meditation session will be part of the package in 2025.

Pottery on a plate

The Mino region of Gifu prefecture is home to one of the oldest and largest ceramics industries in Japan. Essential to the industry’s development (which evolved to meet the demands of tea ceremonies) has been the quality of the granite-flecked soil found in Mino.

Mino ware, common tableware and fine ceramic products such as tiles for architecture and infrastructure projects are made here. Mino ware accounts for some 50 per cent of Japan’s ceramic production. The black finish of Setoguro, the light reddish tones of Shino, and the green-hued Oribe are all traditional Mino-ware standouts.

There’s ceramics shopping aplenty. Look out for the exquisite lacy work of ceramics artist Asaka, who uses an ancient ceramic moulding technique called Ikomi: liquefied clay is poured into a plaster mould and once the mould is removed, the shaped clay is extracted.

Paper tigers

Washi paper is a style of traditional paper that has been produced in Mino for more than 1300 years. It’s durable but also beautiful, acclaimed for its pure white colour and the way it seems to dance with light. The paper is made from the fibres of the paper mulberry plant. These are soaked in clear river water, thickened, and then filtered through a bamboo screen.

Washi paper was originally used in lanterns, umbrellas and fans. Today, it is used not only for letter-writing and books, but also for paper screens, room dividers and sliding doors in the home.

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