Shizuoka Prefecture is next to Kanagawa, where my workshop and home are located. On October 17–18, I visited a handmade fair held in Shizuoka. The area has a mild climate, and it’s well known for producing mandarin oranges and Japanese tea.
Shizuoka has also been famous for woodworking since long ago. Even today, many of the woods delivered to our area come from lumber suppliers in Shizuoka. It’s also home to factories with advanced woodworking techniques, such as the world-famous Yamaha, which makes pianos and other instruments, as well as guitar manufacturers.
In recent years, the number of foreign visitors to Japan has greatly increased, but Shizuoka is still not very well known, and you rarely see overseas tourists there. However, it has beautiful spots such as Mt. Fuji and Miho no Matsubara, where there are more visitors.
Shizuoka is also the place where Tokugawa Ieyasu, a very famous samurai, once lived, and his castle and historic sites still remain. Surprisingly, even many Japanese people don’t know much about that. In many ways, it’s a wonderful place to visit.
Since it’s quite close, I’ve often visited Shizuoka over the years. I usually go by car, but you can also take the Shinkansen since it stops at Shizuoka Station. When you visit Japan, you can easily travel from Tokyo to Shizuoka by Shinkansen—it takes about one hour. The photo shows Shizuoka Station.
One thing I personally like about Shizuoka is that it’s home to Tamiya, a world-famous plastic model company. The company was founded by Mr. Tamiya and is still run by his family today. Their headquarters and store are located just near Shizuoka Station, and they’re definitely worth visiting.
The venue where the handmade festival I attended was held is also where Tamiya holds its annual exhibition. Every year, model enthusiasts from all over Japan come to see it. Among many model makers, Tamiya stands out for its exceptional precision and wide variety of models. I’ve loved building Tamiya models since I was a child. They also have a website and an online shop, so please check them out if you’re interested. https://www.tamiya.com/english/index.html
Recently, there had been many rainy days, but I was lucky to have good weather this time, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.
