About our ecotours
To encourage young artists, to enhance the exchange between artists and visitors, and to interact with regional revitalization through the creation of shohekiga art pieces inspired by Takehara’s nature and culture, we will conduct two types of ecotours as part of the Japan Tourism Agency's ‘Tourism Restart Project’ .
The ecotours will provide an opportunity for visitors to see art making processes or experience ‘the artistic space of hospitality’ created by shohekiga paintings.
The concept of the ecotours is in line with the conservation and sustainable use of the natural and cultural resources in the local area and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (8, 9, 11, 14, 15, and 17).
A special experience for those who love art, history, nature and culture
Tour A (1 night, 2 days, All-inclusive)
Interact with young artists creating shohekiga paintings and art experts at the ‘open studio’
Dates: 1st February (Thu.) to 6th February (Tue.), 2024
*Please choose 2 days from 1 Feb (Thu.) - 2 Feb (Fri.), 2 Feb (Fri)- 3 Feb (Sat.), 3 Feb (Sat.)- 4 Feb (Sun.), 4 Feb (Sun.) - 5 Feb (Mon.), or 5 Feb (Mon.) - 6 Feb (Tue.) .
Price: 130,000JPY (per person/tax included)
- Experience Takehara's food culture with a wa-én (和塩) full course dinner + gyohan (魚飯, Takehara's traditional cuisine for guests)
- Enjoy Japanese saké brewed using Hiroshima’s unique soft water brewing method
- Stay at a renovated hotel making use of historic architecture (enjoy a suite or maisonette room) *Maisonette is a two-floor room with an internal staircase.
- Take a bath in a cozy wooden bathtub
- Visit a local saké brewery
- Soba noodle lunch at the local saké brewery
- Make SETOUCHI blue pottery (small saké cups and salt plates)
- Enjoy a walking tour around nostalgic Takehara Townscape Preservation District
Tour B (1 night, 2 days, All-inclusive)
Visit 'the artistic space of hospitality’ created by just made shohekiga paintings exhibited at historical architecture in Takehara Townscape Preservation District
Dates: 21st February (Wed.) to 26th February (Mon.) 2024
*Please choose 2 days from 21Feb (Wed.) - 22 Feb (Thu.), 22 Feb (Thu.) - 23 Feb (Fri.), 23 Feb (Fri.) - 24 Feb (Sat.), 24 Feb (Sat.) - 25 Feb (Sun.), or 25 Feb (Sun.) - 26 Feb (Mon.) .
Price: 130,000JPY (per person/tax included)
- Experience Takehara's food culture with a wa-én (和塩) full course dinner + gyohan (魚飯, Takehara's traditional cuisine for guests)
- Enjoy Japanese saké brewed using Hiroshima’s unique soft water brewing method
- Stay at a renovated hotel making use of historic architecture (enjoy a suite or maisonette room) *Maisonette is a two-floor room with an internal staircase.
- Take a bath in a cozy wooden bathtub
- Visit a local saké brewery
- Soba noodle lunch at the local saké brewery
- Make SETOUCHI blue pottery (small saké cups and salt plates)
- Enjoy a walking tour around nostalgic Takehara Townscape Preservation District
Both tours will be accompanied by an interpreter (English-Japanese).
NOTE:
*Please do not eat natto (納豆) during the tour. Also, please do not wear perfume. A local saké brewery, Fujii Shuzo’s saké is produced through an old-fashioned process in which ‘kōji mold (Aspergillus oryzae)’ plays an important role. If you come to the saké brewery after eating natto or wearing strongly scented perfume, you will not be allowed to enter the brewery as these have negative effects on the ‘kōji mold’ inside the brewery. Your understanding and cooperation to conserve local saké production is highly appreciated.
More about the ecotours
Take a stroll back in time at Takehara, Hiroshima's Little Kyoto, a nostalgic town.
Takehara, located in the south-central part of Hiroshima Prefecture, and facing the Seto Inland Sea, is known as a ”Little Kyoto'' town in Hiroshima. The Takehara Townscape Preservation District, lined by historical buildings from the Edo period (1603-1867) to the Meiji (1868-1912), Taisho (1912-1926), and Showa (1926-1989) eras, is designated as a Japan Heritage (日本遺産) site, and is a place where you can spend a rich time surrounded by a nostalgic landscape.
In addition, saké using Hiroshima's unique “soft water brewing method'' and wa-én (和塩, Japanese salt) rich in mineral and nutritious are produced in Takehara by taking advantage of nature's blessings.
Shohekiga
Shogekiga are large paintings on sliding doors or folding screens seen in traditional Japanese architecture. Some shohekiga paintings are treated as important art pieces and collected by renowned overseas museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C.
*Photos shown below were taken at Matsusaka and Morikawa houses in Takehara Townscape Preservation District.
Open studio
On tour A you will interact with artists who are creating shohekiga paintings and art experts (a museum curator, an artist and an art producer). The shohekiga paintings will be created by three young artists selected through an open call. In the concept of contemporary art, the creative processes are also part of the art work.
The open studio will be held at a building in Takehara Townscape Preservation District.
‘Artistic space of hospitality’
On tour B, you will experience the ‘artistic space of hospitality’ created by just made shohekiga paintings exhibited in historical buildings including NIPPONIA HOTEL in Takehara Townscape Preservation District. These paintings are inspired by Takehara's nature, history, culture and landscape.
During the Muromachi period (1336-1573), shoin (書院, drawing or study room), a type of reception room for guests was developed in Japanese buildings. At the beginning, fusuma (sliding doors) were used just to divide rooms. Later, high-class people hired artists to paint beautiful shohekiga on fusuma or on byobu (folding screens) to decorate the shoin spaces of their palaces or houses for showing off their powers - or welcoming guests. Also, some artists voluntarily painted shohekiga in many temples and other buildings as tokens of their gratitude for their stays.
The Shohekiga Project is an attempt at 'learning from the past and discovering new things' based on such historical episodes. The art pieces created by young artists will breathe new life into historic buildings.
NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town - Renovation of the historic architecture
In the ecotours, we will provide NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town for your accommodation.
NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town is based on the concept of Albergo Diffuso． In Italian, albergo means ‘accommodation’ and difuso means ‘dispersion’. Several old or vacant buildings in the town are renovated to use as lodging facilities, and each building has respective roles such as reception, guest rooms, and restaurants. As a result, the entire town will take on the function of a hotel. This concept is designed to revitalize the area as guests move around the town and create interaction. This concept is also expected to solve the problem of vacant houses due to the declining birthrate and aging population.
As such, NIPPONIA HOTEL renovated 3 historic buildings in the town, and allocates the roles of a reception, a restaurant, and guest rooms to respective buildings. Historic buildings including a local bank (accommodation building) and a Japanese ryotei (料亭) restaurant (front desk/restaurant building) were renovated for the buildings of this nostalgic and relaxing hotel. During your stay at the hotel, you will experience the feeling of being wealthy merchants (hamadanna, 浜旦那), who made their fortunes through salt and saké production and created the historical townscape of Takehara.
Takehara and wa-én (和塩), Japanese salt
Until the Middle Ages, most of the Takehara City area was located in the shallow sea. During the Edo period, land reclamation was promoted and developed as salt farms. Salt farms produced high-quality salt, and Takehara flourished as a ‘saltworks town’ for over 320 years, from 1650 to 1970. The owners of the salt farms were called ‘hamadanna’, and thanks to the wealth generated by salt production, they have established a rich culture in Takehara.
Wa-én (和塩) full course dinner
During the ecotours, we will provide a special wa-én full course dinner for guests at the NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town.
This full course dinner is specially planned for our ecotours, and will use wa-én for all dishes from appetizers to desserts using local ingredients.
Do you think it’s salty and unhealthy? – The answer is NO. On the contrary, this wa-én full course dinner is not salty at all. As well as wa-én is rich in nutrients and minerals, a slight amount of salt extracts umami from ingredients and creates a delicate taste. Also, this menu is inspired by local salt production history.
Wa-én full course dinner
Gargouille made from local vegetables, Hiroshima greens and wasabi condiman
Fresh fish marinated with mineral-rich Takehara salt with local citrus
Red turnip potage - float with turnips flavored with Takehara salt
Saké -steamed local fish using saké from Taketsuru Saké Brewery, rouleaux style with a sauce that has a mellow and rich salty taste
Grilled Taoshita beef loin wrapped in salt pie served with arranged Takehara salt
Hamadanna's hospitality dish: Gyohan told by Taketsuru Saké Brewery
Takehara salt and Setouchi mandarin orange parfait
Gyohan (魚飯) -Takehara's traditional cuisine for guests
Gyohan (rice and seafood with dashi soup) is a Takehara's traditional cuisine that hamadanna usually served to guests at the end of a party. Salt farms were abolished in 1960 due to a national policy and opportunities to see gyohan gradually decreased. But it is still a local cuisine unique to Takehara that has been handed down by merchants in the area. In 2008, an association trying to conserve local food culture recreated this menu so that it could be provided to visitors. In 2020, gyohan was certified by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs as the ‘Traditional 100 Year Food’.
Please enjoy gyohan that was born out of Takehara's history.
Hiroshima’s unique ‘soft water brewing method’
Hiroshima is now known as one of Japan's three premier saké brewing regions. However, Hiroshima was considered unsuitable for Japanese saké production in the past as most wells provided soft water. Soft water was regarded as unsuitable for saké brewing because yeast does not work well and fermentation is insufficient. However, a Hiroshima’s master saké brewer, Senzaburo Miura (三浦仙三郎) intensively studied saké brewing and local water quality, and developed a unique method taking advantage of the weak points of soft water. Fermentation process progresses more slowly with soft water than hard water, but it also means that soft water enables a long-term fermentation along with a culture of kōji mold (Aspergillus oryzae). In this way, the soft water brewing method unique to Hiroshima enables the production of a smooth saké with rich flavor and a mellow taste.
Fujii Shuzo Co., Ltd. (saké brewery)
At Fujii Shuzo, saké is produced using Hiroshima’s unique soft water brewing method. Please enjoy a saké tasting and take a look at saké, saké sets (tokkuri (flask) and cups), tableware, handicrafts, accessories and bags made of kimono fabric, etc. at their gift shop. At the restaurant (Tanizaki) in the saké brewery, you can enjoy a soba noodle lunch.
Fujii Shuzo is famous for its saké brand Ryusei (龍勢) which was served at the working dinner of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in 2023.
NOTE:
*Please do not eat natto (納豆) during the tour. Also, please do not wear perfume. A local saké brewery, Fujii Shuzo’s saké is produced through an old-fashioned process in which ‘kōji mold (Aspergillus oryzae)’ plays an important role. If you come to the saké brewery after eating natto or wearing strongly scented perfume, you will not be allowed to enter the brewery as these have negative effects on ‘kōji mold’ inside the brewery. Your understanding and cooperation to conserve local saké production is highly appreciated.
Tokobo Fudo (pottery studio) -
SETOUCHI Blue Pottery
Let’s make a small saké cup and a salt plate in SETOUCHI Blue at a local pottery studio, Tokobo Fudo. Takehara, located in the Seto Inland Sea area, has recently drawn the attention of visitors due to its selection as one of 52 places to go in 2019 by the New York Times. Setouchi (瀬戸内) means the Seto Inland Sea and the blue is thought of as the local theme color by people in the area.
After experiencing art, local food culture of salt and saké in Takehara, why not keep your memory by making a souvenir? A small blue saké cup and a salt plate will retain the memory of your trip. (The saké cup and the salt plate will be delivered to your home after firing.)
At the pottery, you may also be able to meet the lovely cat "Soseki" who serves as the chief of tourism by strolling alleys of Takehara.
Tour A (1 night, 2 days, All-inclusive )
Exchanging with the young artists creating shohekiga paintings and the art experts at the ‘open studio’
Dates: 1st February to 6th February, 2024
*Please choose 2 days from 1 Feb (Thu.) - 2 Feb (Fri.), 2 Feb (Fri)- 3 Feb (Sat.), 3 Feb (Sat.)- 4 Feb (Sun.), 4 Feb (Sun.) - 5 Feb (Mon.), or 5 Feb (Mon.) - 6 Feb (Tue.) .
Price: 130,000JPY (per person/tax included)
Day 1:
- 13:00 Meet in front of the front desk/restaurant building of NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town (1-4-16 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022)
- Walk around Takehara Townscape Preservation District
- Visit the ‘Open Studio’
- 17:00 Check-in at NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town
- After 17:30 Enjoy a wa-én full course dinner
Accommodation: NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town (stay at a suite or maisonette room)
Day 2:
- 7:30 Breakfast at NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town
- 9:00 Visit to Fujii Shuzo Co., Ltd. to see the saké brewery (storehouse) and enjoy a saké tasting
- 11:30 Soba noodle lunch at Fujii Shuzo
- 12:30 Shop at Fujii Shuzo. Take a look at the sake, sake cups, tableware, handicrafts, accessories and bags made of kimono fabric, etc. at their gift shop
- 13:30 Pottery making at Tokobo Fudo (pottery studio)
- 16:30 Disband
Tour B (1 night, 2 days, All-inclusive)
Visiting 'the artistic space of hospitality’ created by just made shohekiga paintings exhibited at historical architectures in Takehara Townscape Preservation District
Dates: 21st February 2024 to 26th February 2024
*Please choose 2 days from 21Feb (Wed.) - 22 Feb (Thu.), 22 Feb (Thu.) - 23 Feb (Fri.), 23 Feb (Fri.) - 24 Feb (Sat.), 24 Feb (Sat.) - 25 Feb (Sun.), or 25 Feb (Sun.) - 26 Feb (Mon.) .
Price: 130,000JPY (per person/tax included)
Day 1:
- 13:00 Meet in front of the front desk/restaurant building of NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town (1-4-16 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022)
- Experience the ‘artistic space of hospitality’ created by just made shohekiga paintings exhibited in historical buildings including NIPPONIA HOTEL in Takehara Townscape Preservation District
- Walk around Takehara Townscape Preservation District
- 17:00 Check-in at NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town
- After 17:30 Enjoy a wa-én full course dinner
Accommodation: NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town (stay at a suite or maisonette room)
Day 2:
- 7:30 Breakfast at NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town
- 9:00 Visit to Fujii Shuzo Co., Ltd. to see the saké brewery (storehouse) and enjoy a saké tasting
- 11:30 Soba noodle lunch at Fujii Shuzo
- 12:30 Shop at Fujii Shuzo. Take a look at sake, sake cups, tableware, handicrafts, accessories and bags made of kimono fabric, etc. at their gift shop
- 13:30 Pottery making at Tokobo Fudo (pottery studio)
- 16:30 Disband
Meeting time/place
13:00
NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town
(Front desk/restaurant building, as shown on the right)
1-4-16 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022
Transportation
This tour departs and returns locally.
Access to Takehara Townscape Preservation District
- 25 minutes by car from Hiroshima Airport
- 1 hour and 10 minutes ride by express bus ‘Kaguyahime-go 「かぐや姫号」’ from JR Hiroshima Station (get off at ‘Michinoeki Takehara 「道の駅竹原」’)
- 15-minute walk from JR Kure Line (呉線) ‘Takehara（竹原）’ station
- 20 minutes by car from Sanyo Expressway Kawachi IC
- 10-minute walk from Shinkobashi (新港橋) bus stop
Minimum number of participants: 2 people
Maximum number of participants: 10 people
Payment
Payment is by PayPal or bank transfer.
For details, please contact Fukuyama Tourist.
What is included in the price
Expenses for transportation, accommodation, meals, sightseeing, etc., and various taxes such as the consumption tax.
Expenses related to tours and activities at the saké brewery and pottery studio.
The above fees will not be refunded even if some of the fees are not used due to customer's convenience.
Facilities to be used
Historical buildings in the Takehara Townscape Preservation District
NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saltworks Town (1-4-16 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022)
Fujii Shuzo Co., Ltd. (saké brewery) (3-4-14 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022)
Tokobo Fudo (pottery studio) (3-10-25 Honmachi, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 725-0022)
Reservation
Fukuyama Tourist Co., Ltd.
4-16-25 Fukatsu-cho, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 721-0974
Phone: +81-84-926-7722
Business hours: 9:00 - 18:00 (Monday - Friday) 9:00 - 17:00 (Saturday)
Closed: Sundays and holidays
Inquiry for Fukuyama Tourist
About the ecotours
Please apply from the Contact page (https://f-tourist.com/contact/) of Fukuyama Tourist Co., Ltd.
If the trip is unavoidably canceled due to less than the minimum number of participants, we will notify you by email.
Important information for customers on the waiting list for reservations
Customers on the waiting list will be contacted via email as soon as a seat becomes available. Please apply from the [Fukuyama Tourist Co., Ltd.] Contact page (https://f-tourist.com/contact/) and make the necessary payment.
Please note that if we cannot confirm the payment, we will cancel your reservation.
Cancellation fees (accommodation)
14 days before: 10% of basic accommodation fee
7 days before: 50% of basic accommodation fee
The day before your stay: 80% of the basic accommodation fee
On the day: 100% of basic accommodation fee
No-show: 100% of basic accommodation fee
1-11-14, Dejima, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, 734-0013, Japan
[email protected]
TEL: +81-82-259-3371 FAX: +81-82-259-3372
©Setonaikai Ecotourism Association. All Rights Reserved.