Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku (駿府の工房 匠宿) in Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City, will hold the exhibition "Food and Craft" (食と工芸) from Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 29, 2026.
The exhibition explores new ways to enjoy craft in everyday life from the viewpoint of food. Behind Takumishuku lies the rich area of Izumigaya (泉ヶ谷). Through the eyes of 井上靖彦, chef of the creative French restaurant "Simples," which has relocated to Izumigaya, the exhibition presents local ingredients, the techniques of artisans and the thoughts that go into making things, expressed where food and craft meet.
The exhibition is planned by 鷲巣恭一郎, an artisan of "Ocha-zome Washizu." (お茶染めWashizu.). Besides serving as head of the dyeing workshop at Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku, he has set up a new workshop in Izumigaya and continues to make things rooted in the area. Like "Simples," he is based in Izumigaya. From the perspectives of a chef and an artisan, they approach the local ingredients and techniques and look for new possibilities in "food" and "craft."
Background of the Exhibition
Since its renewal opening in May 2021, Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku has centered on craft, with a cafe, shop and gallery on site. Accommodations and bathing facilities have since been added in the same area, and the place has continued to evolve through the work of many professionals.
Now a "Craft Village Concept" (工芸村構想) to train 100 craft apprentices has begun, and its stage is expanding beyond the facility to Izumigaya, the quiet, rich area behind Takumishuku.
Through the viewpoint of 井上靖彦, chef of "Simples," which moved to Izumigaya, the exhibition looks at craft from a broader perspective and explores the possibilities of food, craft and daily life.
About "Food and Craft"
Under the title "Food and Craft: The Potential of Izumigaya, an Area That Enriches Daily Life" (ー 食と工芸 ー 暮らしを彩る地域 泉ヶ谷の可能性), the exhibition is overseen by 井上靖彦 of the creative French restaurant "Simples," which moved to Izumigaya to help enliven craft together with Takumishuku. It treats the area, artisans, techniques and thoughts as "ingredients" and proposes new possibilities for them.
Through the sensibility of a creative French chef, the exhibition is designed so that visitors can experience it as if savoring a course meal.
Special Events During the Exhibition
Special Event 1: "Food and Craft" Tour with a Chef and an Artisan
Participants experience food and craft through a chopstick-making workshop (粉貝箸, lacquer sanding) and a tasting.
First, participants take part in a workshop on making 粉貝箸 chopsticks (lacquer sanding) led by 藤中知幸, an artisan of Suruga lacquerware (駿河漆器). They then enjoy a tasting by 井上靖彦, chef of "Simples," using the lacquer chopsticks they have made themselves. The tasting consists of one small dish made with local vegetables and one cup of herbal tea. The event also includes a cross-talk between 藤中知幸, who is directly involved in the craft world, and 井上靖彦, who shares the appeal of craft from a chef's standpoint.
- Sessions: 4 in total, 90 minutes each
- Sunday, November 22: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM / 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
- Sunday, November 29: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM / 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
- Reservations: Reserve here
Special Event 2: Tote Bag "Re:SENSE" Order Sales
Order sales of the tote bag "Re:SENSE," a way to take memories of the exhibition into daily life, will be held. Details will be available at the venue during the exhibition.
The Chef and the Artisan
井上靖彦 (Simples)
Owner-chef of the innovative fusion restaurant "Simples." He entered the culinary world at 20 and learned creative international cuisine under Kihachi Kumagai (熊谷喜八) at 紅花 in Tokyo and KIHACHI in Fukuoka. At 24 he went to Europe, where he spent about six years honing his skills in Belgium and Italy. After returning to Japan, he gained experience in places such as Mishima and Hita City in Oita Prefecture, then opened "Simples" in Shizuoka City. The restaurant later moved to Izumigaya in Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City, where it now stands. He serves original dishes that bring out the character of the ingredients, and his dishes using fish from Sasue Maeda Fish Shop (サスエ前田魚店) are well regarded.
鷲巣恭一郎 (Ocha-zome Washizu.)
He is the fifth-generation head of Washizu Dyeing Shop (鷲巣染物店) and has inherited its dyeing techniques. In 2006 he began researching "ocha-zome" (tea dyeing), which uses tea leaves left over from Shizuoka's tea-making process that cannot be sold as products. Aiming to "make ocha-zome part of the culture," he pursues the possibilities of stencil dyeing with plant dyes. He is head of the dyeing workshop at Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku, chairman of the Shizuoka City Dyeing Trade Association "Suruga Wazome" (駿河和染), a part-time lecturer at Shizuoka Design Vocational College (静岡デザイン専門学校), and a board member of the Shizuoka Prefecture Craftspeople Association (静岡県工芸家協会). He exhibited at the Milan Salone in 2019. He received the World Green Tea Association O-CHA Pioneer Award CHAllenge Prize in 2021 and the Governor's Prize at the 48th Shizuoka Prefecture Craft Art Exhibition in 2022, was selected for the Kokuten (国展) exhibition for three consecutive years from 2023, and received the Shizuoka City Arts and Culture Encouragement Award in 2025.
Exhibition Details
- Exhibition name: Food and Craft (食と工芸) / The Potential of Izumigaya, an Area That Enriches Daily Life (暮らしを彩る地域 泉ヶ谷の可能性)
- Venue: Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku, Takumishuku Traditional Crafts Museum (匠宿伝統工芸館), 3240-1 Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City 421-0103
- Dates: Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 29, 2026
- Hours: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM
- Closed: Tuesdays (open if Tuesday is a national holiday, closed the following weekday)
- Supervision: 井上靖彦 (Simples)
- Planning: 鷲巣恭一郎 (Ocha-zome Washizu.)
- Exhibition cooperation: 杉山雄右 (SNUGGERY flowers)
- Admission: Free
About Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku
Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku is a traditional craft experience facility in Shizuoka City that opened in April 1999. In 2021 it was renewed for the first time in 22 years under the concept of "a place connecting history and future." Leading artisans serve as heads of workshops where visitors can try Suruga bamboo thin-strip work (駿河竹千筋細工), pottery, indigo dyeing, tea dyeing, woodwork (木工指物) and lacquer. The grounds also have Yomogi Kintsuba Tokiya (蓬きんつば ときや), which carries on the taste of a local Japanese confectionery shop loved for many years, and the cafe HACHI & MITSU, which uses honey from a local apiary. The facility combines traditional craft experiences with dining and shopping.
Beyond the workshop grounds, facilities have opened in cooperation with the surrounding area. They include Craft Inn Waraku (工芸ノ宿 和楽), a renovated old house whose rooms are furnished with Shizuoka crafts, 1HOTEL (ワンホテル), where guests can stay with their dogs, and the bath and sauna facility Fukisarashi-yu (ふきさらし湯), built from relocated timber such as impressive beams and assembled using a hand-framed log construction method. All were created by renovating existing buildings.
The area (the Izumigaya district of Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City) is intended to become a major base for connecting handwork and its practitioners into the next 100 years, and the facility aims to produce successors to craft artisans by offering hands-on craft experiences.
Access to Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku
- Business hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
- Closed: Tuesdays (open if Tuesday is a national holiday, closed the following weekday)
- Address: 3240-1 Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City 421-0103
- By car:
- Seisei Bypass: 200 m east of the Maruko IC exit
- Tomei Expressway: about 7 km (about 15 minutes) from Shizuoka IC, or about 15 km (about 30 minutes) from Yaizu IC
- Tomei Expressway: about 15 km (about 20 minutes) from Shin-Shizuoka IC, or about 9 km (about 16 minutes) from Shizuoka Smart IC
- By bus: From Platform 7 at the North Exit of JR Shizuoka Station, take the Shizutetsu Justline Chubu Kokudo Line bus bound for Fujieda Station, get off at Togeppo Sunpu Takumishuku Iriguchi (吐月峰駿府匠宿入口), and walk about 5 minutes.
- Website: https://takumishuku.jp/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunpu_takumishuku
