Nara: Chopsticks Making Class with 100-Year-Old Wood

Carve a pair of chopsticks from Nara cedar over a hundred years old, shaving the wood thin one pass at a time with your own hands.

Learn where the wood comes from, the meaning held in the shape of a pair, and the connection to Nara. Something you use without thinking becomes a pair with a story behind it.

Your finished chopsticks are wrapped in cloth and handed to you with a deer chopstick rest of Nara pottery - a souvenir that brings Nara back to your table every day.

One hour of simple, enjoyable handwork. Families, couples, friends and solo travellers all welcome.

1. Over a cup of hojicha in a machiya in Naramachi, we run through how the session will go.

2. Holding cedar over a hundred years old, you learn about the wood, where it grows, and the meaning in the shape.

3. After watching your host, you shave the wood thin with the scent of cedar in the room, until the pair fits your hand.

4. How to hold them and how to care for them, so a single pair lasts for years.

5. Your chopsticks are wrapped in cloth and handed over with a deer chopstick rest of Nara pottery.

6. If you like, your Nara-born host will point you to shops and lanes no guidebook lists.