Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku (駿府の工房 匠宿) in Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City, will hold the Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku (駿河竹千筋細工) exhibition "Take, Hikari." (竹、光。) from Friday, December 11, 2026 to Monday, February 8, 2027.
Bamboo was already part of daily life in the Yayoi period. In Shizuoka, where good-quality bamboo grows, it has long been used in everything from hare (special occasions) to ke (everyday life). The exhibition focuses on Shizuoka's "bamboo culture" and looks at it from many angles: the beauty of crafts such as Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku, the commitment and challenges of the artisans, and the climate and land that formed the foundation of it all.
As a special exhibition, "Juan" (受庵), an assembly-type tea room designed in 1993 by the leading Japanese interior designer Shigeru Uchida (内田繁), will be shown to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. Visitors can step inside a space furnished with tea utensils made of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku. During the exhibition period, the whole Takumishuku area offers ways to experience bamboo, including making round bamboo strips with an artisan, making revived models of past workshops, and limited menus that go with the exhibition. Admission to the exhibition is free and no reservation is required (reservations are recommended for craft experiences).
"Take, Hikari." A Nostalgic yet New Story of Bamboo
For the Japanese, bamboo has long been a familiar material, used both as a tool for daily life and as something that carries culture. Although bamboo is hard and thick and does not let light pass through, people have been speaking of it together with "light" since ancient times.
There is "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" (竹取物語), in which a radiant princess born from bamboo returns to the moon. There is the bamboo insect cage, in which people keep bell crickets or fireflies to enjoy faint insect sounds and soft light. There are bamboo-strip andon lanterns and lamps that wrap the light and cast swaying shadows on floors and walls. The exhibition focuses on Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku, a traditional craft of Shizuoka City, and on bamboo itself, which is deeply tied to life and culture in Shizuoka, and approaches the Japanese aesthetic sense and sensibility that lie beneath it from various viewpoints.
Exhibition Concept
Neither grass nor tree.
It has no core, so it bends and does not break.
Soft, and strong.
Bamboo is a truly mysterious presence.
Perhaps that is why, since ancient times, people have layered "light" over bamboo.
What appears there is not a light that brightens the world, but a light that is continuous with the darkness.
The beauty and gentleness of an ambiguous world that does not separate black from white.
The exhibition explores what the Japanese have entrusted to the combination of bamboo and light, two things that are fundamentally incompatible, and the sensibility we have nurtured.
Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku and the Expression of Light
Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku is a traditional craft of Shizuoka made by assembling thin, round bamboo strips (丸ひご, "maru higo") cut from bamboo. Other regions' bamboo crafts weave flat strips (平ひご, "hira higo"), but because Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku is a collection of round strips, light curves softly around them and shadows fall delicately.
The exhibition looks at the value of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku from its "surroundings": the underlying thought and sensibility, the land and the makers that have made this form possible.
For many people who grew up in Shizuoka, Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku is also a familiar presence that they touched in school classes as children. As adults, however, few have chances to come into contact with it in daily life. The exhibition aims to see this nostalgic handwork anew as a refined product that blends into modern life, and to show the possibilities of bamboo as a material, leading to the creation of new value.
What Is Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku?
Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku is a craft using bamboo from Shizuoka Prefecture that was designated a national traditional craft in 1976. Its origin is said to be in 1840 (Tenpo 11), when 菅沼一我, a samurai of the Okazaki domain, passed on the technique to 清水猪兵衛 at the inn where he was staying.
While bamboo crafts in other production areas generally weave flat strips, the biggest feature of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku is its use of round strips. Extremely thin round strips of only about 0.8 mm in diameter are inserted one by one into small holes drilled in the bamboo and assembled into free forms. One artisan handles almost everything from making the strips to assembly. In addition to vases and insect cages, lighting fixtures and interior items are now made as well, and the delicate, supple curves drawn by the round strips and their refined beauty of form are appreciated in Japan and abroad.
Highlights: Experiencing Bamboo Through Exhibits, Experiences, Shops and Food
Exhibition Space Wrapped in Light and Shadow: A Japanese-Style Illumination
At the main venue, the Takumishuku Traditional Crafts Hall (匠宿伝統工芸館), tools used for Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku and actual works are displayed with explanations. The works are placed on fixtures modeled on andon lanterns, and each piece is lit individually to bring out the shadows created by the round bamboo strips. Photos and videos can be taken in the venue.
Special Exhibition "Shigeru Uchida Design: The Glowing Tea Room"
To mark the 10th anniversary of the death of the leading Japanese interior designer Shigeru Uchida, the assembly-type tea room "Juan," which he designed in 1993, will be shown to the public. The tea room, from which light leaks from the inside, is furnished with tea utensils made of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku, and visitors can step inside and enjoy the space. Explanations that shed light on the background of its creation at the time will be on display, along with reference materials and literature that trace Uchida's thinking. A special event is also planned during the exhibition period.
Details will be announced later on the official website and Instagram.
Shigeru Uchida and Shizuoka City
In 1988, Shizuoka City started the "Sanchi Image Up (Dynamics) Project" (産地イメージアップ（ダイナミクス）事業), a project in which designers were hired and local industry businesses produced the products developed. Uchida took part in the first year of the project as one of the designers and designed furniture. After this project, he asked woodworking makers and artisans in Shizuoka to produce the interior and furniture of Hotel Il Palazzo (ホテル イル・パラッツォ) in Fukuoka City and the tea room being shown this time. This led Shizuoka's woodworking industry to play a part in modern design in Japan's interior industry. Uchida kept a deep interest in tea rooms and in the spirituality and thought of Japanese culture until his later years, and "Juan" is positioned as an early work in that line.
Night Takumishuku: Enjoying Bamboo Lights (December 12 and January 9)
Takumishuku holds "Yoru Takumishuku" (夜匠宿), extended hours until 8:00 PM once a month. The Yoru Takumishuku held during the exhibition period also offers a lantern-making experience available only on that day. Visitors can enjoy lighting with a Japanese spirit on the theme of "bamboo and light."
The Takumishuku area is a quiet satoyama (village-mountain landscape) surrounded by mountains, where scenery once found everywhere in Japan remains, with people making their living while receiving the blessings of nature. The "outside" sinking into darkness and the "inside" lit by lamps are gently connected. Night is a fitting time to experience the expression of light in Japan that the exhibition takes as its theme, "light continuous with the darkness," and the place is expected to show a different face from the daytime.
Behind the Scenes of "Making"
Turning a bamboo "plant" into "parts," one strip at a time, takes a great deal of work and time. The venue traces the process from gathering the material to processing it, together with the tools and materials actually used, and introduces changes in style and the artisans' challenges.
Limited-Time Craft Experiences
Make Round Bamboo Strips with an Artisan (with "Take Gacha")
Round bamboo strips are the most important parts that form Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku. This experience lets participants make round strips, which cannot be done in the usual experiences. While listening directly to a Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku artisan, participants can try for themselves the artisan skill of turning bamboo into round strips. It comes with a "Take Gacha" (竹ガチャ), which gives an original-design tin badge available only at the bamboo exhibition.
- Dates:
- 2026: December 12 (Sat), 13 (Sun), 19 (Sat), 20 (Sun), 26 (Sat) and 27 (Sun)
- 2027: January 1 (Fri, holiday), 2 (Sat), 3 (Sun), 9 (Sat), 10 (Sun), 11 (Mon, holiday), 16 (Sat), 17 (Sun), 23 (Sat), 24 (Sun), 30 (Sat) and 31 (Sun), and February 6 (Sat) and 7 (Sun)
- Time: From 10:00 AM / from 1:00 PM
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Capacity: 5 people per session
- Fee: ¥1,000
- Eligibility: Ages 12 and over
- Reservations: Takumishuku website reservation form or phone
Revived Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku Workshops
Two making experiences that were popular in the past return for the exhibition period only: a cute spherical vase, "Kodama" (こだま), and a pen stand, "Tsuta no Hosomichi" (つたの細道), for which the way the strips are inserted can be chosen. An instructor teaches, so even first-time participants can finish a piece without trouble.
Vase "Kodama"
- Start date: December 11, 2026 (Fri) onward
- Time: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, accepted at any time
- Duration: 70 minutes
- Fee: ¥5,000
- Eligibility: Ages 12 and over
- Reservations: Takumishuku website reservation form, phone, or same-day sign-up (ask a staff member)
Pen stand "Tsuta no Hosomichi"
- Start date: January 1, 2027 (Fri) onward
- Time: 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, accepted at any time
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Fee: ¥3,500
- Eligibility: Ages 6 and over
- Reservations: Takumishuku website reservation form, phone, or same-day sign-up (ask a staff member)
Bonbori Chochin with Gentle Light (Two Dates Only During the Exhibition)
Participants make a round chochin lantern with a handle, like a bonbori. The experience is held only on days of "Yoru Takumishuku" (the monthly extended-hours evening), and is planned for two dates: Saturday, December 12, 2026 and Saturday, January 9, 2027.
- Dates: December 12 (Sat) and January 9 (Sat)
- Time: 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Fee: ¥5,800
- Reservations: Takumishuku LINE members only
Craft Class by Traditional Craftsman Shigeyasu Sugiyama
This craft class is available only during this exhibition and is taught directly by Shigeyasu Sugiyama (杉山茂靖), a traditional craftsman of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku and head of the bamboo workshop at Takumishuku's Workshop Take to Some (工房 竹と染). While listening to demonstrations and explanations, participants make the cube-shaped lamp "CUBE."
About Shigeyasu Sugiyama
Sugiyama is a traditional craftsman of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku and head of the bamboo workshop at Workshop Take to Some. He is the third son of Miyabi Andon Seisakusho (みやび行燈製作所), which has continued since the Taisho era, and carries on the family business of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku together with his brothers. Alongside his own work, as a member of the Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku Cooperative Association (駿河竹千筋細工協同組合), he appears in various media and gives demonstrations and lectures at educational institutions, continuing to convey Japanese "tradition" from the front lines of making things, from the appeal of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku to the heart of Japanese culture such as the "wabi-sabi" found in traditional crafts. He is known for his cheerful personality and clear, lively explanations that work for audiences from elementary school children to seniors.
- Dates: December 28, 2026 (Mon), January 18, 2027 (Mon) and February 1, 2027 (Mon)
- Time: From 1:00 PM
- Duration: 120 minutes
- Capacity: 5 people per session
- Fee: ¥8,800
- Reservations: Takumishuku LINE members only
Tasting, Staying and Taking Bamboo Home
Limited Cafe Menus
Cafes within Takumishuku offer limited menus that go with the exhibition, including special desserts inspired by "sensuji" (thin bamboo strips).
Cafe HACHI & MITSU
"Bamboo Charcoal Pudding and Maruko Black Tea" (竹炭プリンと丸子紅茶), ¥1,000
A deep-colored bamboo charcoal pudding inspired by the quiet beauty of bamboo, served with fragrant Maruko black tea. A Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku coaster is placed under the dish of black pudding made with bamboo charcoal, in the hope that traditional crafts can be brought closer to people and be taken casually into daily life.
- Sold as a set only, not individually
- Sales period: January 7 (Thu) to January 29 (Fri), 2027
- Weekday cafe time only, sold from 2:00 PM
The COFFEE ROASTER in WAKAMATSU
"Tiramisu Parfait Set Layering a Thousand Lines" (千の筋を重ねるティラミスパフェセット), ¥2,400
A pairing set of coffee and a tiramisu parfait inspired by the delicate lines of Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku. Guests draw lines freely with brown sugar sauce to finish the pattern and flavor they like. The last line is added by the guest.
Stay in a Bamboo-Themed Room at "Craft Inn Waraku"
Craft Inn Waraku (工芸ノ宿 和楽) is a whole-building rental old-house inn in the Takumishuku area. Every room is furnished with Shizuoka crafts, starting with Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku. During the exhibition period, rooms styled to match "Take, Hikari." will be available.
Details will be announced later on the official website of Craft Inn Waraku: https://craftinn-waraku.jp/
The photo shows a regular room.
Shops and Gallery
Each shop sells Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku related products so that visitors can take home the pieces that stayed with them from the exhibition.
Kotokoto STORE (コトコトSTORE), a select shop of Shizuoka food and goods, sells Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku items suited for gifts. The gallery TetoTeto carries lighting and basket bags that can be taken into daily life and fashion. During the exhibition period, it will also hold a special exhibition that doubles as a display (January 1, 2027 (Fri, holiday) to February 8, 2027 (Mon)).
The program details are tentative and may change without notice. For the latest information and reservations for craft experiences, check the official website and official Instagram.
Exhibition Details
- Name: Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku Exhibition "Take, Hikari." (駿河竹千筋細工展覧会「竹、光。」)
- Dates: December 11, 2026 (Fri) to February 8, 2027 (Mon)
- Hours: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM (varies by venue). Business days and hours change around the year-end and New Year holidays. Check the Takumishuku website for the latest information.
- Official website: https://takumishuku.jp/news/take_hikari_exhibition/
- Venue: Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku (3240-1 Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City) and surrounding facilities (the Takumishuku area)
- Exhibition: Takumishuku Traditional Crafts Hall, permanent exhibition space (匠宿伝統工芸館 常設展示場)
- Experiences: Workshop Take to Some (bamboo) (工房 竹と染)
- Shops: Kotokoto STORE (コトコトSTORE) and Gallery TetoTeto
- Limited cafe menus: Cafe HACHI & MITSU and The COFFEE ROASTER in WAKAMATSU
- How to participate: Free admission, no reservation required (free viewing). Some paid content, such as craft experiences in the workshops, is available. Because the number of participants for experiences is limited, advance reservations are recommended.
- Organizer: Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku (designated manager: Sozosha Co., Ltd. (株式会社創造舎))
- Cooperation: Suruga Take Sensuji Zaiku Cooperative Association (駿河竹千筋細工協同組合) / Uchida Design Institute (内田デザイン研究所)
- Support: Shizuoka Local Specialty Industry Association (静岡特産工業協会) / Shizuoka Industrial Promotion Association (公益財団法人静岡産業振興協会)
Access to Sunpu no Kobo Takumishuku
- Business hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
- Closed: Tuesdays (open if Tuesday is a national holiday, and 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
