Sumi Inkstone Workshop

Field Trip Club went to Nara back in late March for a special workshop.

I practice shodo, using sumi ink to write Japanese characters onto paper. Nara is the city where about 90% of sumi is made in Japan. It has a long history and Nara is close enough for a day trip so I had been wanting to learn more for a while.

The workshop was held in a small space with a group of five students total. It was held in Japanese, although I believe the teacher sometimes teaches using English for off site / cultural experiences for foreign companies. I booked our reservation in Japanese on their site and we both speak Japanese so I felt that would be more authentic. There was so much information in around an hour, and we had a chance to ask questions, but we both felt like it was too much to really absorb that quickly. We took turns explaining a couple things to each other later since we caught or understood different parts. 

I misunderstood the “kojo” or workshop observation in the workshop description and asked about if we could see the place with all the soot being burned to make the sumi. I was told that it's way too dirty to go in there, hah.

The observation was just in the workshop room.

I guess I wanted to actually learn the entire process of making sumi and not just make the “only one” sumi shaped like my hand. Maybe some of the other sumi making locations offer workshops that go into more detail.

We did get to try to knead the soft sumi and see how it is placed into molds to make the rectangle blocks, “cho” that are sold commercially.

There is a tiny shop in the same space, where we can see samples of what some of the sumi looks like on paper.

It was super fun for me to learn about the process and history of making ink stones. We took home our special ink stone wrapped in tissues in a small box, to keep closed up for three months to cure.

This location is small - run by a couple. The workshops are available from October to April, as during the warmer months the ingredient called nikawa (gelatin or animal glue) becomes too stinky.

Oh, at this location, Kinkouen, the price for the workshop was 2200 yen.

Location info:

錦光園(きんこうえん）

547 Sanjocho, Nara, 630-8244

http://kinkoen.jp/