Mino Washi Experiencing Private Tour from Nagoya (H0025)

Gifu Prefecture, Japan

WASHI (Japanese paper)

• Do you know what the Japanese-yen note is made from? Washi is the material of it. Even if you accidentally washed your pants with the note in the pocket, it surely remains as it is, and then you see how strong it is. Anyway, washi is used for many things around you for a long long time.

UDATSU

• Mino Old Town has a lot of houses which have udatsu. Udatsu originally played a role of firewall, but merchants in old times started to build gorgeous udatsu to show off their wealth. The newer time udatsu were made in, the more gorgeous they got at Mino Old Town.

Mino Washi-no-sato Hall

• The hall tells you about the history and technic of Mino Washi, giving you exhibits and experience of it, and the best place to start this tour. Especially, experience of making washi is great chance to deeply learn what washi is.

Kozuchiminato Light House

• In the past, the river running near Mino Old Town played an important role in the washi trade. And there were a hub of the trade under the light house. It stays as it was and magnificently stands on the by the river.

Mino Bridge

• This is the oldest existing suspension bridge, and was registered as a National Important Cultural Property. Being red for the bridge makes itself attractive with the river on the background.

Mino Old Town

• Here you have free time to explore for 60 minutes. The town was registered as a National Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings and as said above, houses which have udatsu are all around in the town. All udatsu are different in designs so look carefully at them. Shops here are also attractive. A paper shop “Shiyu”, as which a 70-year-old warehouse of paper is used, sells small letter writing set made from washi with pretty designs. Also, lantern shops are highly recommended to shop. Lanterns there are made from Mino Washi and they

Imai Family House

• This house has such a very simple style. You walk into the back of the house and you see a beautiful garden through the window there. The garden has “Suikinkutsu”, into which you pour a little of water and gives you a cool and refreshing sound.

Mino Washi Akari Art Museum

• At night in autumn at Mino Old Town, there is a event “Mino Washi Akari Art Exhibit”. The museum reproduces the event displaying works that exhibited in the past event. A fantastic view spreads out there.

Osaka Sake Brewery

• Osaka Sake Brewery started their sake business in the Edo period, and the brewery was built in 1773, which is a simple-designed one as well as Imai Family House. You can here taste some sake produced at the brerwery.