【Northern Culture Museum

The great Niigata Landowner’s mansion Experience Program】
Revised№12

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4

Activity/Experience

Three-person mochi(rice cake)-pounding in
the wealthy Itohfamily’s mansion

Furumachi GeishasDancing

Traditional craft ofgold-inlaid
lacquerware (chinkin)

Niigata Kaguramai(traditional sacred
Shinto dance)

Inquiries to Northern Culture Museum Tel +81-25-385-2001（Prior reservation is required in each case ）DetailsTime
required（Photographs provide an impression）

At New Year and on otherfestive occasions, mochipounding, an activity
requiring three people,
was carried out in the fineold farmhouse of thewealthy Itoh family.
Here you have the chance
to try it for yourself withthe help of an artisan.
Freshly-pounded mochi
are delicious.
The geishas of Furumachi
in Niigata, whose
traditions go back 200years, are as famous as
the geishas of Gion in
Kyoto or Shinbashi inTokyo. As well as
watching the geishas
dancing you may takephotographs with themand learn about geisha
entertainment.

The early years of the Edo
Period were the heyday ofcargo ships known askitamaebune that sailed
the Sea of Japan bringing
lacquer techniques fromother areas and turning
Niigata into a major
producer of lacquerware.
The chinkin techniqueinvolves embedding gold
dust in lacquer. Here you
perform the entire processfrom painting to finishing.

In Niigata, kaguramai
dances were handed downin each village to reflect
the particular features oflife in that place.
Prayers and thanks for abumper harvest were
offered at festivals in
spring and autumn. Thisis truly a dance toappreciate in the great
landowner’s mansion
where you can imagine
what a rice-growing
culture was like.

45 minutes(poundingand eating)Price※including tax

22,000JPY per party（separate entrance
price for museum)2023.4.1

Number in party※ reservation
deadline

35※negotiable

150,000JPY per party
45minutes(dancingandintroduction
to geishaentertainment)

45minutes

30 minutes（separate entrance
price for museum)※Does not involve
private reservation ofbanqueting hall.

35※negotiable※only possible in theafternoon

5,500JPY（separate entrance
price for museum)☆You may keep thefinished article as asouvenir.

55,000JPYper party（separate entrance
price for museum）※Does not involve
private reservation ofbanqueting hall.

35（10 minimum)※negotiable

35※negotiable56789Steaming rice inhagama pot

Ogama Cauldron

Garden Commentary

Shinobue (Japanesetransverse bambooflute) Recital

Tea ceremony

Try making scorched rice
as you adjust the heat
yourself. Enjoy local
delicacies accompanied
by freshly-steamed
locally-grown koshihikaririce.

Enjoy regional delicacies
accompanied by locallygrown koshihikari ricesteamed in the cauldron in
the Itoh farmhousekitchen.

A walk-around garden
designed by Taiami
Tanaka, a landscapegardener associated with
the Ginkaku-ji Temple inKyoto. During the tourof the garden you willvisit the teahouse“Sekisuian”, which is not
usually open to the public.
As you enter thebanqueting hall, you hear
the haunting sound of aJapanese flute. The live
recital with the garden of
the Itoh house as a
backdrop offers a uniqueexperience of Japanesemusical harmony.
Enjoy a cup of matcha
accompanied by a sweet
local cake in the Itohfamily’s tearoom. A
relaxing way to appreciate
the real Japanese tea
ceremony without tea
ceremony procedures.

30 minutes（timerequired tosteam rice)―30 minutes

20 minutes(recital)

20 minutes※for tenpeople

1,980JPY（separate entrance
price for museum)One pot provides
enough rice for 2-5people

80
reservationmust be madebefore
lunchtime atleast two days
prior to desired
date

7,700JPY per party（Museum entrance
price and lunch price areseparate)☆Choose what you
would like for lunch
from the “Misogura”
menu.

50
※negotiable

550JPY per person（separate entrance
price for museum)35（10 minimum)

27,500JPY per party（separate entrance
price for museum

1,650JPY per person（separate entrance
price for museum)☆Tea ceremony
procedures cost 5,500
JPY per party

35※negotiable20（10 minimum)