Event Announcement 📣 On Saturday, February 21, 2026, Makubetsucho will host “2026 Makubetsu Tsunagu Lantern” at Akenogaoka Park 😊 Each handmade lantern created by local residents has its own unique design, and they are delightful to admire 🎵 Please come and see the magical world lit by the lanterns’ gentle glow ✨ Be sure to dress warmly for the event 🧤🧣🧥 📍Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026 ※In case of severe weather, the event will be postponed to Sunday, February 22, 2026 ※If postponed, an announcement will be posted on Instagram. 📍Venues and Times 🔸Akenogaoka Park 17:30–19:30 🔸Makubetsu Park Plaza 17:30–19:30

Event Announcement📣 On Sunday, February 15, 2026, Makubetsu’s Churui will host the 43rd Nauman All-Hokkaido Sled Competition 😊 Alongside the general division—where participants race on homemade cardboard sleds and are judged on sled craftsmanship and finish time—there will be an elementary school speed division and a parent-and-child speed division 🎵 Other activities include a “Treasure Hunt” inspired by the buried-gold legend of Churui Maruyama and a photo-movie contest for sharing fun memories from the sled competition ✨ 📍Date and Time: Sunday, February 15, 2026 📍Venue: Churui Hakugindai Ski Area 📞Contact: Tournament Office 01558-8-2111 http://www.makubetsu.jp/kankobussankyokai/?p=8682...

Event Announcement📣 On Friday, February 6, join us in Shihorocho for a one-night candlelit evening called “Shihoro on ICE,” featuring ice candles made by the community😊 The evening will include candle art by the Shihoro Town Central Junior High School Art Club, and—weather permitting—snow sculptures created by local volunteers may make an appearance!?⛄️ Warm snacks and beverages will be available at the venue☕️ 📍Date and Time: Friday, February 6, 2026, 4:30 PM–7:30 PM 📍Location: In front of Town Plaza 📞Contact: Shihoro on ICE Organizing Committee (Hattori: 080-1897-4728) 🔶Ice Candle Drop-off Period Tuesday, February 3–Thursday, February 5, 2026, 5:30 PM–7:30 PM: Committee members will collect ice candles at Town Plaza, so please make them at home and bring them by✨We look forward to seeing your creations🤗 🔶Volunteers Wanted Volunteers are needed on Friday, February 6 from 1:00 PM to help with venue setup and lighting—join us in making the event shine🎵

Announcement of the illumination event 📣 "Sara Illumi" will be held in Sarabetsumura through Saturday, February 16, 2026 (planned) 😊 Lights are on from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. A workshop for local residents shaped the designs, which are expressed with about 40,000 bulbs 🎵 Handmade village lights brighten the freezing winter nights with vivid color 🤗 https://www.sarabetsu.jp/sightseeing/event/illumination/...

【Information on Iron Exhibition Hall Events】 Let's make a "handmade knife"! Gari is surprised that an unexpectedly authentic knife is made from five nails! There is also an afternoon session, so please come and visit us ♪ Date: Sunday, July 27 　　　Afternoon session: ▶ 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Location: Sakaki Town Iron Exhibition Hall Participation fee: 500 yen (admission fee not included) Capacity: First 30 people

【Information on Iron Exhibition Hall Events】 Summer Vacation Support Project!! Let's make a "handmade knife"! Date & Time: Sunday, July 27 (1) 10 a.m. – noon 　　　　　　　　　　 (2) 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Capacity: First 30 people for both (1) and (2) Participation fee: 500 yen (admission fee not included) Workshop to make your own Original knife using five-sun nails, Summer ♪ Vacation crafts, etc. 😚

Introducing an experiential tour you can enjoy in Tokachi, Hokkaido 😄 —Enjoy with a strawberry farmer— A half-day strawberry-focused plan in Shikaoicho Farm Bell Veggy is a family-run farm where a husband and wife carefully grow and sell their home-grown strawberries. In this program, you’ll pick ripe strawberries grown energetically inside the greenhouse, then use your harvest to try making processed strawberry products and sweets. Farm Bell Veggy also operates a kitchen car selling food and drinks, so they know the best ways to enjoy their strawberries. This tour is a dream for sweet lovers, offering plenty of fresh strawberries to enjoy. Tour Schedule 13:30 Meet at Farm Bell Veggy 13:35 Program briefing and strawberry picking experience Enter the greenhouse where bright red strawberries grow. Harvest strawberries raised safely. 14:00 Strawberry jam-making experience Make jam from the strawberries you picked! 15:00 Pancake-making experience and tasting Make pancakes using fresh strawberries! Adding your own toppings makes the pancakes even more delicious. 16:30 Tour ends Operating period: Around late June to October Time: 13:30–16:30 (about 3 hours) Group size: 2–10 people (minimum 2 adults) Price: For 2 people (per person) Adult JPY 16,500, Elementary school student JPY 4,500 For 3 or more people (per person) Adult JPY 12,100, Elementary school student JPY 4,500 *With English interpretation, prices are as follows.* For 2 people (per person) Adult JPY 23,200, Elementary school student JPY 4,500 For 3 or more people (per person) Adult JPY 17,600, Elementary school student JPY 4,500 Please make a reservation at least 14 days before your desired date. Depending on guide availability, we may not be able to accommodate your preferred date. Thank you for your understanding. This is a great opportunity to meet and talk with the producers and learn about the behind-the-scenes of farming and food!! We hope this experience leads to new discoveries and perspectives, enriching your lifestyle. We would be delighted if a Tokachi experience became one page of your travel memories 😄 If you are interested, please visit the federation’s official website page “BEHIND THE GOOD TASTE —Journeys Connecting to the Roots of Food in Tokachi—” via the URL below! Contact KUNAU Publishing Co., Ltd. Slow Travel HOKKAIDO Email: slh@slow-life-hokkaido.com

【Cotton Cafe】Relaxing, yarn spinning experience 🧶 Today, I would like to introduce ☺️✨ the "Cotton Cafe" held on the third Saturday of every month at the former Kuraoka junior high school "Kuraokakura" Feel free to Use the café only.☕💕 You can 😌 order delicious homemade cakes and drinks Today's cake was a cake with kumquat jam and a cake 🍰✨ with apple jam (I had a lot of it, but it was 🤤 insanely delicious) Everyone was having a relaxing time 🫶 while enjoying reading and chatting Of course! There is a fee, but you can 🧶✨ also experience yarn spinning Pick up cotton seeds with a "cotton gin" ↓ Use a tool called a "hand carder" like a large slicker brush to adjust the stream of fibers. ↓ When wrapped around a winding stick, a bundle of cotton called a "pony" is formed 😌☁️, which looks like a fluffy cocoon ↓ If you pull this out little by little with a tool called a spindle and twist it, you will get 😳👏 a magnificent thread as shown in the first photo It seems that 💡 you can adjust the thickness of the finished yarn by twisting the fiber and the amount of force You can make it thinner or thicker, or try to spin a single yarn with various thicknesses... There are There are fun of spinning your favorite yarn If 🤗✨ you are interested, please try 💪 it When you visit Cotton Cafe, you don't need to make a reservation or anything, so 👌 please feel free to stop by and enjoy 😌🌿 your own time 【Date & Time】3rd Saturday 13:00~15:00 【Place】Kuraoka Kurara (Staff Room) 〒882-1201 5929 Kuraoka, Gokase-cho, Nishiusuki-gun, Miyazaki Prefecture 【Reservation】Not required 【Fee】Yarn spinning experience 1,500 yen, cotton (with seeds) 400 yen

Recycling and handmade shop "Esuka-ru" The shop sells recycled tableware, clothing, and miscellaneous goods, along with handmade fabric items. If you enjoy flea markets, you’re likely to find something you love. There is also a café corner where friends can relax, drink coffee, and chat in a casual, welcoming space. Musical instruments such as a piano and guitar are available inside the shop for anyone to play. Customers sometimes teach one another, so even if you can’t play, drop by if you’re curious. Owner Mr. Ogasawara not only runs the shop but also visits facilities several times a year with his music friends to give volunteer performances. He says, “We perform a wide range of songs, from tunes for children to pieces that bring back memories for adults, and the audiences enjoy them. Going forward, we want to continue bringing smiles through music and contributing to the liveliness of Kimobetsu.” Address: 180-3 Kimobetsu, Kimobetsucho Phone: 090-6217-6891 Hours: Weekdays 10:00–17:00 Closed: Sundays and other irregular holidays

Sunset Village Exhibition✨ On Saturday and Sunday, November 16–17, the former Kuwanouchi Elementary School gym hosted the "Sunset Village Exhibition" and the "Small Sato Frost Month Festival," to much excitement 😆🎉 Creative works by local residents were on display, and visitors toured them with great interest 👀 On Saturday, November 16, food stalls and workshops drew lively crowds 😁 At the workshops, many people happily carried their finished pieces home, and seeing that made us happy too 😊

Saturday, November 23, 2024 — One-day-only tour “A Winter Tradition: Nozawana Pickling Experience — From Harvest to Brine” Meeting place: Public lodging facility Village Azumino Time: Gather at 1:00 PM, dismiss at 3:30 PM (planned) Fee: ¥5,000 per person (tax included) Fee includes: the Nozawana pickling experience; delivery fee for 5 kg of Nozawana per person; light refreshments and tea; insurance; and a complimentary day‑use bath on the day of the experience only Who can join: Open to everyone; reservations accepted from one person (children in elementary school or younger must be accompanied by a guardian) *Reservations will close once capacity is reached The complimentary day‑use bath is valid only on the day of the experience. Please speak to a staff member. For details, visit the Azumino City Tourism Association website under “Experience Tour Reservations”

Making things with fresh wood We split, shave, and carve recently cut, undried wood…and a shape emerges. This year again, Mariko Kusakari came from Hakodate to teach a greenwoodwork class at the forest museum Komu. I joined the mini dish course! Taking into account what each person wanted to make and the diameter of the trunk, we started by choosing wood. Participants making mini dishes chose three types: willow, white birch, and magnolia. When we split the logs, the heartwood felt moist and wet. Magnolia gave off a pleasant woody aroma, but the cut surface of the willow had a strange, fermenting scent. Using a shaving horse, froe, knives, and other tools, we shaved to our preferred thickness and carved to the desired depth. I rounded the corners of my dish, but pieces with pointed corners were lovely, and it was fun to look at the dishes others made. Those more practiced made long, narrow dishes with three holes, and I admired their skill. I hope to dry it carefully and use it for a very long time. Thank you for a wonderful time! #Nishiokoppe Village #Komu #Greenwoodwork #Workshop #Fresh wood #Small dish #Mini dish #Pencil case #To hold glasses #To display fruit #Wood cut by someone you often meet on walks

Limited to October and November “A Taste of Autumn in Azumino! Harvest Seasonal Apples, Enjoy an Exciting Bike Ride, and Try Making Apple Pie in the Orchard” [AM 3-hour Course] When the bright red apples hang heavy on the trees, spend a special time in the vast apple orchards A limited-time tour lets you savor apples at their peak♪ We look forward to your participation♪ For details and reservations, visit the Azumino City Tourism Association website

Wood learning at the nursery! At the end of January, we held a wood-learning program at a nursery. Previously, we published an experimental report about making crafts from milk carton paper fibers. Here is a quick look at the children's creations. Simply touching the fluffy paper fibers floating in the water filled the room with joyful laughter.

On December 17th, we made shimenawa for the New Year with the children. We have been preparing by drying the rice harvested in August. It seems that the hard work has paid off in the earnest eyes of the children.

It is a bouquet of roses made of red origami. This is an example of how origami, a traditional industry in Japan, can make a wide variety of things.

I attended the 15th Ecopa Soba Festival. These hand‑made soba noodles were prepared by the Makubetsu Men’s Cooking Group using locally milled flour! They offered three varieties: special soba (chicken and burdock), mori soba, and kake soba. The event was lively with many visitors! Each time there are only 300 servings available! Next dates: August 6, September 3, October 8, 11:00–13:00 Location: Tokachigawa Ecological Park, “Tsuchi no Fōrī”

Barrier-free COOKINGRelatively★ safe and secure ★ without using a fire or kitchen knife Put the ingredients into the rice cooker that can be ★ made ★ if one hand moves, and ★ thank you for the switch-on ★ rice cooker

I took these photos last week at Shinagawa Station. They were having a small lacquerware exhibition sort of thing and were selling goods from I suppose Naraijuku as is written on the cloth, but I don't remember if there was anything else to the setup. They had a lot of really cool lacquerware pieces though and I managed to pick up a couple of spoons and some extra chopsticks. I would have liked to buy more, but unfortunately am not in the need for much tableware at the moment lol. They also had some traditional children's toys and I was considering getting a Jacob's Ladder since I hadn't seen one in years, but decided to pass lol. The Wagasa on the top of the stall were also for sale too. Only ¥1500 and they're handmade! It was a cool exhibit though, I'm not sure if it was just a one day thing or if they're still going for a while but definitely drop by if you're at Shinagawa Station and see it open.

It is a candy handmade in Coronavirus pandemic! It was very popular with the child who gave Mickey as a gift because he was cute! !! I want to go to 🥺🤍 Disney when Corona is over.