[Nara] Nara: Chopstick-Making Workshop with Artisan

• * Carve chopsticks from Nara cedar over a hundred years old, shaped to your own hand
• * Watch a skilled host at work, then make your own pair beside them
• * Learn how chopsticks are used in Japan, and how the types and shapes differ
• * Learn why Nara's cedar forests matter so much within Japan
• * Take home a souvenir nobody else has, because you made it yourself
• * Choose a deer chopstick rest of Nara pottery to take home as well
• * Ask your Nara-born host where to go next before you leave

Carve a pair of chopsticks from Nara cedar over a hundred years old - an hour of handwork, shaping the wood one pass at a time. Learn where the wood comes from and the meaning in the shape of a pair. Something you use without thinking becomes a pair with a story behind it. - Over a cup of hojicha in a machiya in Naramachi, we run through the session. - Holding century-old cedar, you learn about the wood and the meaning in the shape. - After watching your host, you shave the wood thin until the pair fits your hand. - How to hold and care for them, so a single pair lasts for years. - Your chopsticks are wrapped in cloth and handed over with a deer chopstick rest of Nara pottery. Families, couples, friends and solo travellers all welcome.