Ichiewado Seminar House — Local services in Otsu

It was my first visit to Ohtsu city, the capital of Shiga prefecture and the main port of Lake Biwa the largest freshwater lake in Japan. The city was also the last post town on the Tokaido trail connecting Tokyo and Kyoto in Edo period.

I learned a lot more about the facts and history of the city from the owner of Ichiewado Seminar House and a good friend of mine.

After a nice catch up, I painted my own bell at her workshop. The design is a guardian demon from Ohtsu-e, a local folk painting from Edo period. I chose my colors and started painting. Not quite confident at first, but as I went on painting I was immersed in it! It was a lot of fun. Painting my own Ohtsu-e that goes back to Edo period made me imagine the time when travelers walked the trail and got rest and food and bought souvenirs on their way.

Now my little guardian demon bell is on duty at the entrance of our house protecting it from any evil spirits that...

It was such a wonderful experience mix of culture and art workshop organised by Ichie Wado, Misato the founder and a daughter of the late Otsu-e artist Takahashi Wado. The workshop starts with presentation with rich history back in 17th century. How these type of art was born. With such clear understanding, I even appreciated when we start painting the bell with fun methods. Such a great experience. If you are looking for culture, history yet fun activity while in Japan, this is the one in Otsu, Shiga. Only 10 min from Kyoto Station....

Takahashi-san is such a caring person. She was making sure that I arrived safely due to the typhoon. I could tell she was very nice person from her emails but once I got to know her, she was easy to talk to and gave me lots of compliments about my painting. It was a fun and educational experience even for a native Japanese. I didn’t know some historical background though I quite enjoyed learning it. Painting on the Oni bell made me calm...