Morioka Handcrafts Village — Attraction in Morioka

Apologies for the terrible photos but honestly a really underrated place.

I came in January as a quick stop and I thought it was only a place that sold some local crafts and food but turns out it could definitely be a whole day activity. There is a museum that has HEAPS of artefacts you can see and the descriptions are all meticulously translated into English (100yen entry as of writing).

Behind the main building are a lots of “classrooms” where you can take part in classes (for a reasonable fee) learning about the local crafts. This included basket weaving, pottery painting , reimen (cold noodle) making (the city’s specialty food) and lots of other activities. Definitely great hands on experience.

While I didn’t take part in any except for the dango I making class (because it was quick) the rest of the classes looked great and despite it being the off season each classroom was manned with staff so you could sign up whenever you wanted to. Even if you don’t want to take part in classes each place also sells the wares that you can make.

Definitely will come back to get a...

Date of enjoyment: 14/4/25 Came here on a rainy Monday, the souvenir shop is stocked with plenty of Morioka delicacies mainly foods and handcrafted items such as cast iron posts and tea pots. There they have all kinds of foods dried, cooked or frozen. There’s too much that one can bring back overseas, I would recommend ed anything that’s got a long shelf life. We got miso and soy sauce from Iwate. There’s also other workshops in the other areas, making your own mochi, watching people make furniture and cast iron pots are all on show. Given it was a Monday not much was on but I can imagine on the weekends there will be heaps of people. We did find that intermittently local tourists come in bus loads and leave within 20mins. I do recommend allowing 90mins for...

Such a fun experience! I went on a Saturday morning and there were stalls and a little game tent where you can win some prizes made by people in the crafts village. The prices were quite affordable considering everything is handmade. The area was beautiful to walk through and there were some workshops/lessons you can attend.

I speak a little Japanese, and the woman running the bamboo weaving workshop allowed me to try it out despite the language barrier. She was so nice and patient.

If you like checking out handmade stuff, you have to check this place out! Im not sure if the stalls run on weekdays, but the stores should...