This sea-to-mountains route promises a deep dive into traditional Japan and all its beautiful craftsmanship.
On a March morning in Inami , Japan , I adopt the scent of camphor and unfluctuating tap and clack of chisel into one of the petite Ithiel Town ’s dozens of carpentry workshops . Looking up from his piece of work post , an elderly man nod to me , invite me to watch . Hunched over , he work on aranma , an in an elaborate way chip at wooden panel traditionally used in temples and plate , which Inami is known for produce .
locate at the foot of Mount Yaotome in central Japan ’s Toyoma prefecture , Inami itself seems to have been cut up out of wood . There are carvings everywhere : shop sign , sculpture , a bus stop , and — according to my map—30 wooden cats . woodcarver here employ technique that have been blow over down since the renowned sculptor Maekawa Sanshiro arrive around 1750 to help rebuild the burned - down Zuisen - ji temple . now , visitors can try their own handat wood cutting , which is how I became the proud owner of my own handmade , admittedly uneven , saki cup . “ There ’s only one in the world like it , ” my instructor , Emi Honda , offered generously .
There are presently more than 150 wood woodcarver presently working in Inami . Out of a population of just 8,000 , it ’s an impressive , but declining , act . Given the longsighted year of apprenticeship require , and the uncertainty of whether one might bring in very much money , it ’s little curiosity that carver is not exactly a fast - rise job , in Inami or anywhere . But untried carvers like Honda , who come to Inami to hone their craft , interpret a dedication to its preservation . So too do the piles of retentive - vacant homes that have more recently been freshen up and revive , thanks to new transplants who have grown shopworn of Japan ’s big cities — if you ’re going to bribe a run - down house , might as well do it in a township with a pool of skilled craftspeople . And then there’sBed and Craft , a garbled hotel spread throughout six 100 - old buildings , all renovated by local craftspeople , which offer exclusive “ apprenticeship ” experiences with journeyman .
Photo by Karen Gardiner
Get Lost and Found on a Solo Journey Through Japan
Surfer babes and jazz clubs invite you to come as you are.
The concept , I imagine , is tourism done powerful : a mutually rewarding experience that provides income for artificer . For traveler , it proffer a unique and immersive experience that is far from the hit - and - rivulet expressive style of touristry that , in other parts of Japan , has try infrastructure and pushed locals ’ patience to the brink .
Such is the beauty of the Mitsuboshi Kaidou , orThree Star Road , a less - traveled path on which Inami is just one reciprocally rewarding spot .
The Three Star Road
I was in Inami while making my way along the Three Star Road between Kanazawa and Matsumoto . This is a route head trip that can bedone by caror by set up together heap routes ( as I did ) and that , crucially , beltway the country ’s tourist magnets .
An ever - increasing number of inward tourists over the preceding 10 geezerhood , coupled with a post - COVID upsurge in travel and weaken hankering , has led toovertourismconcerns in Japan — culminating with theconstruction of a barrierto cube an Instagram - friendly view of Mount Fuji anda law curtail touristsfrom part of Kyoto ’s Gion district . The issue is n’t necessarily the number of tourists , but the assiduity ; most do n’t stray off the Golden Route , the Hellenic journey fromTokyotoKyoto and Osaka . By meandering through four prefectures between the Sea of Japan and the Japanese Alps , the Three Star Road promises a road less journey , even if it ’s not that far off the beaten path . More of a trace than a strict itinerary , it can be tailor to your interest , whether that ’s food , history or outdoor escapade . Knowing that retentive isolation has helped preserve pass - down traditions along the itinerary , I opted to comply its artistry and crafts heritage .
Kanazawa
I start my trip in Kanazawa , the chapiter of Ishikawa prefecture and a smooth two - and - a - one-half - hourShinkansen ( bullet train ) drive from Tokyo . A UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art and birthplace of various craft , Kanazawa leans into a long - standing committedness to uphold its cultural heritage through itsIchigo Ichieprogram , which arranges studio visits and hands - on activities with local craftspeople . I spend five days immersed in the urban center ’s artistry , from making crank trinkets in a former soy sauce manufactory to drinking tea with the 11th - generation principal of a clayware - clear family in his own Kengo Kuma - designed museum . In between , I explored the city ’s well - preserved Edo - epoch neighborhoods , include Kazue - machi , one of three geisha territory , which — in contrast to Kyoto ’s beleaguered Gion — was so quiet I could learn my footsteps . I eat sassy - off - the - boat seafood at Omachi Market , and catch some Z’s surrounded by artworks both traditional ( atAsadayaryokan ) and contemporary ( atHyatt Centric Kanazawa ) .
Inami to Shirakawago
From Kanazawa , I took the bus to Inami then , using the same three - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. combinedNanto - Kanazawa and World Heritage Bus pass , stay to Gokayama and the hamlet of Ainokura . Together with nearbyShirakawa - go , Gokayama holds UNESCO status for its typical sloping , thatch - roof houses known asgasshō - zukuri(praying custody ) because their roofs resemble hands in petition , a design that protect the buildings from heavy snows . Swathed in abstruse coke and circle by mountains , the home appear frozen in time but my Texan usher Grant Lloyd ’s description of the job of preserving these cultural prison term capsules deflate the magic somewhat . Replacing the roofs , which has to be done every 15 - 20 old age , call for harvesting reeds from the mountains . “ Your arms get wreck ” from the tenacious days spend cutting , he narrate me , speaking from experience . “ And that ’s only half of it . Then they actually have to replace the thing . ”
Labor- and time - intensive , saving largely bank on the community ; for hundreds of years , the villagers have worked together to re - thatch the roofs in the spirit ofyui(mutual aid ) . Twentieth - one C depopulation meant fewer mass to do the work and risk that custom would die out . But UNESCO credit and cultural touristry heightened the stakes of protecting this unique landscape painting , which now have local and national political science backing .
Another heap down the route take me into Gifu prefecture and to Shirakawa - go , a hamlet of gassho - zukuri houses that looks like a adult version of Ainokura , but with many times the number of tourists . touristry has helped these modest rural colonization by provide both the income needed to maintain their landscape and an incentive to keep tradition alive , but with observably more than three meter as many everyday visitors than resident , Shirakawa - go felt on the edge of being more burdened than buoyed by tourism . Had I spent the night at one of the village ’s overnight accommodations , however , I would have seen it blissfully empty before the turn buses range in . Nevertheless , I was content to hop quiescence in thatched house for soaking in the big open - air bath atOnyado Yui no Shoa twain of miles aside .
Hida-Takayama to Okuhida
Surrounded by theforestsof northern Gifu , Hida - Takayama is also renowned for its woodworking . So much so that , in place of paying taxes to the former royal capitals , the city historically post its best craftspeople to work up many of Nara and Kyoto ’s shrines and temples . The epitome of these woodwork skill is exemplify by the extremely decoratedyataifestival float that are paraded through the metropolis ’s minute streets during the Takayama Festival .
I was a few week too ahead of time to catch the fete , which takes place over two days in both April and October . However , as it trace several hundred thousand visitor , I was happy to instead enjoy a crowd - free , up - skinny look at four yatai on display in theTakayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall . century - old , the floats were towering , spectacular creations adorned with extravagant carvings , metalworking , silk , and brocade . What caught my eye , though , was the lacquered base of each , examples of Hida Shunkei , a 400 - year - one-time regional lacquerware proficiency mostly used to make glossy tableware and ornaments .
ThroughTakayama Experience , a local tour fellowship that is focus on compound visitor ’ understanding of Japanese culture , I visit the cozy workshop of Nobuyuki Kumazaki . One of just six record lacquerware artisans working in Takayama today — and , though he ’s in his 70s , “ one of the younger ones , ” he say — Kumazaki establish me the painstakingly slow operation of repeatedly practice clear lacquer to bring out the natural beauty of the woodwind instrument grain . Kumazaki begin his life history when Hida Shunkei was in high demand . Nowadays , the great unwashed tend to favor mass - produced plastic over traditional crafts that take six to eight months to make . Still , Kumazaki is kept busy with his loyal client ’ order , as well as packing up and mailing the finished musical composition made by tourist who visit him for bridge player - on experiences in his shop . He was in a hurry to wind up up his orders , he say , because he wears another , important , lid in the biotic community : organizing the festival .
Photos by Karen Gardiner
Afterward , I wandered through the succinct Sanmachi territorial dominion , which is lined with centuries - old , and perfectly preserved , merchants ' mansions . I popped into a saki brewery , blot thanks to the tell - talesugidama(cedar clod ) hang above its door , but had little prison term to footle : I had another jalopy to catch deeply into the mountains to Okuhida .
After a apparently ever - ascending journeying into the coke - covered Alps , the bus dropped me off atYumoto Chohzaa traditional inn in Fukuji Onsen , one of five onsen towns deeply in Okuhida ’s vale . If anyone else was staying at the inn , I did n’t see them . I had four unlike onsen to myself , as well as five outside bathtub lying along the river a few minutes ’ take the air away , and a secret dining room where a sequence of dishes included melt - in - the - mouth Hida boeuf wangle over an open open fireplace .
Matsumoto
The Three Star Road ends ( or begins , look on which focal point you choose ) in Matsumoto , Nagano prefecture . Matsumoto ’s pridefulness is its bootleg castle , one of the few in Japan to have go the three architect of end : the Meiji renovation , innate tragedy , and state of war . I wandered through the nearby Nakamachi dominion and in and out of repurposed fretwork - screenedkura
( traditional storehouses ) housing craft depot and gallery . Matsumoto worked its charm in surprising ways : with its colorful manhole cover decorated with paintings of the local sept cunning , temari(silk recital - woven balls ) , and dry pint - sized city buses cover in red polkadots — a nod to the city ’s most famous daughter , Yayoi Kusama , who was born there in 1929 . With its craftiness brewery , exclusive - origin coffee store and backdrop of lily-white - capped peaks , Matsumoto feel more westernmountain townthan big city , and a nice span between ramble around the Alps and the gearing that would swiftly take me back to Tokyo . It was the death of the route , but still just enough off the beaten track .
Photos by Karen Gardiner
Photos by Karen Gardiner
Photos by Karen Gardiner
Photo by Karen Gardiner
