Take a drive to experience the craftsmanship nurtured in Tohoku and Niigata, and enjoy the area's history and nature! Tsubame, Niigata Prefecture, is an area renowned for its metalworking. At the Tsubame Industrial Materials Museum, visitors can try their hand at hand-hammering, one of the production processes in the traditional craft of Tsuiki Copperware (hand-hammered copperware).
At lacquerware shops like the Suzutake Lacquerware Studio in Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, you can enjoy an elegant maki-e (inlay work) experience, in which you will be working with lacquer to paint designs onto lacquerware utensils before sprinkling the surface with metal and coloured powders.
At the Zao Kokeshi Museum in Zao, Miyagi Prefecture, you can view traditional Miyagi kokeshi dolls and even try your hand at painting one. Along the way, stop by Ouchi-juku (Shimogo, Fukushima Prefecture), an inn town with thatched-roof houses from the Edo period (1603-1868), or staying overnight in the Inawashiro and Urabandai area of Fukushima Prefecture to enjoy the scenic wilderness of Lake Inawashiro and Goshikinuma Ponds. Drive all the way to the Pacific Ocean and enjoy the spectacular view from a high vantage point overlooking Matsushima Bay in Miyagi Prefecture, the highlight of your trip.
Check out the Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization's website, "Travel to Tohoku" for detailed route information:
https://www.tohokukanko.jp/en/itineraries/detail_165.html
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