Welcome to our Japan Mingei & Mottainai Tour information page!
17 October – 1 November 2027
PLEASE DON’T SHARE THIS INFORMATION, EVEN WITH OTHER REPEAT RETREAT|RECREATE TRAVELLERS. THIS TOUR IS INVITATION ONLY AT THIS STAGE.
Mingei is the Japanese term for ‘handcraft’ or ‘folk craft’. It specifically refers to the beauty inherent in everyday tools and items, rather than the refined aesthetic of high art.
Mottainai is a term that doesn’t translate easily into English, but it expresses the regret one feels at wasting something. There’s a saying in Japan that if a scrap of fabric is large enough to wrap three beans, it should be saved. It’s “too good to waste!”
We’ve created this exciting new itinerary designed to explore Japan through the lens of mingei and mottainai. We will embrace the humble, the wonky, the flawed, and the handmade. We will celebrate the re-made, the renewed, the recreated. We hope you will join us on this new adventure!
The itinerary features multiple private handcraft-based workshops and classes in various media including sakiori weaving, sashiko stitching, kintsugi, metalwork, woodwork and chiku-chiku stitching. Each workshop expresses the values of mingei and/or mottainai in some way. We’ll also enjoy multiple studio and workshop visits where we meet vintage and antique specialists, craftsmen and women, collectors and curators. We’ll take in specialist mingei and craft museums, temples & shrines and numerous cultural and/or UNESCO World Heritage sites as we venture from Osaka and Kyoto to Kanazawa, Takaoka, Niigata, Sado Island and finally to Tokyo.
A priority of our handcraft tours is engagement with artisans directly, whether that’s a hands-on class with an expert, a private showing of a personal collection, or simply visiting artisans in their studios and having the chance to chat informally and look around their workspace.
Should you wish to apply for a place please scroll down to access the following tour documents:
- Itinerary
- Trip Notes
- Application Form, ‘Fitness to Travel’ Declaration & Booking Conditions
Please read all documentation carefully and thoroughly to determine if the tour is right for you, noting the insurance, health, fitness and mobility requirements to participate in this tour, the application procedure, non refundable nature of the deposit, and the Booking Conditions.
If after reading the documentation thoroughly you wish to apply for a place, please quickly let us know by email, then download and complete the Application Form & Fitness to Travel Declaration, and email them to retreatrecreate@gmail.com Please write MINGEI in the subject header of your email.
PLEASE DON’T SHARE THIS INFORMATION, EVEN WITH OTHER REPEAT RETREAT|RECREATE TRAVELLERS. THIS TOUR IS INVITATION ONLY AT THIS STAGE.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- If your application is accepted, a deposit of AUD$2000 will be required to secure your booking. Instructions for payment will be provided to successful applicants;
- The tour price and inclusions can be found on the last page of the itinerary;
- If AUD (Australian dollar) is not your local currency please use a currency convertor for a guide to an approximate equivalent price, however all payments must be made in AUD;
- This tour is for women only;
- Travellers need to be in excellent heath and have good fitness and mobility levels to participate in this tour (see requirements in the tour documents);
- The maximum group size is 12. If we exceed our maximum group, unsuccessful applicants will be waitlisted;
- This itinerary doesn’t include names of hotels, venues etc. A detailed itinerary will be provided closer to departure;
- The tour is fully escorted by our local English-speaking Japanese guide Akiko and retreat|recreate host Susan RO.
We’re very excited about this new itinerary and hope you are too! We’ve tried to anticipate all questions by providing information on costs, conditions, workshops and activities etc, in the documents below but if you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us. (However, please carefully read the contents of this web page and the documents first as your answer is very likely there).
EXPECTATIONS:
- to participate in this tour you must be able to sit on the floor for some presentations, some meals and the weaving workshop;
- you will stay two nights at a temple stay where:
- 1. the bed is a low futon on a tatami mat floor
- 2. all rooms are twin share (everyone will be paired up for these two nights)
- 3. each room has its own washbasin and shower however the toilets are communal;
- you may encounter the occasional squat toilet at roadside stops and some trains stations;
- this itinerary is the result of many months of painstaking research, experience, a research trip, and careful curation, and we think it’s excellent! We expect that within reason, everyone in the group participates fully in the scheduled activities. It’s not helpful for group dynamics if people take days off from the itinerary to go shopping or pursue their own interests. Our tours have long waitlists, filled with people who would love to participate in all the wonderful activities on our tours. If you wish to do your own thing, please arrange additional pre and/or post tour days for your own independent exploration;
- this tour is for active, curious, tolerant and cheerful travellers who enjoy travelling as part of a group, and have an enthusiasm to learn about Japanese culture and handcrafts.
ITINERARY & PRICE
TRIP NOTES
APPLICATION FORM & BOOKING CONDITIONS
A selection of testimonials from previous Japan tour travellers can be found HERE
