Highlights
- Visit a 100+ year-old traditional lantern atelier in Tokyo
- Make your own chochin lantern from washi paper and bamboo
- Step inside a studio still supplying lanterns to shrines and festivals
- Guided by a master craftsman, with an English interpreter throughout
- Take your finished lantern home the same day
Description
Chochin — the hand-painted paper lanterns that glow outside temples, festivals and old shops — have been made the same way for centuries. This is not a demonstration set up for visitors: the studio is still in commercial production, and the craftsman guiding you is the same person who makes the lanterns hanging in shrines and restaurants across Tokyo.
What you'll do:
- Learn how bamboo and washi paper become a lantern, and why the craft survived in Tokyo
- Shape and stretch washi paper over the frame under the craftsman's guidance
- Paint your own design
- Finish it with traditional Edo-moji lettering — your name, a favorite word, or a phrase that means something to you
- Take your finished lantern home the same day
Edo-moji is the brush style that grew up with Edo popular culture — the same hand seen on kabuki billboards and old shop signs, each character shaped to carry strength and meaning.
You do not need to be artistic. Every step is guided, with a dedicated English interpreter beside you throughout. The studio is packed floor to ceiling with lanterns in every size and color — one of the most photogenic craft spaces in Tokyo. Children from age 6 can take part.
Includes
Participation in a hands-on lantern-making session at a working studio
Instruction from a master chochin craftsman
Dedicated English-speaking interpreter throughout
All materials (washi paper, bamboo frame, paints)
Edo-moji lettering applied to your lantern
Your finished chochin lantern to take home
Excludes
Transportation to/from the venue
Meals or drinks
Personal expenses
Important Information
- ⚠️ The meeting point depends on your booking date
- ■ Regular workshop location
- 〒130-0003
- 2-10-8 Yokokawa, Sumida City, Tokyo
- (Applies outside Grand Sumo Tournament periods)
- ■ Special venue during Grand Sumo Tournament periods
- 〒130-0015
- 1-3-201 Yokoami, Sumida City, Tokyo
- (Ryogoku Kokugikan area)
- Grand Sumo Tournament periods in 2026:
- January 11–25
- May 10–24
- September 13–27
- Please check your booking date carefully, as the meeting point changes only during these periods
- The workshop is located near Tokyo Skytree (Oshiage Station)
- Suitable for ages 6 and up
- No prior experience needed
- Workshop may involve ink/paint, so wear clothes you don't mind getting stained
- Reservations required in advance
Easy cancellation
Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
