Inami井波

A Jōdo Shinshū temple founded in 1390. It burnt in 1762 and was rebuilt with carvers brought from Kyoto, which is how the town learned the craft; the present main hall dates from 1885. This is where Inami carving started, and the buildings are the showroom.

Entry is ¥500 (high school and up), open 9:00–16:30 on the temple’s own page (another listing gives an 8:30 opening). No closing days are listed. The garden has wisteria in April and May and colour in November.

The Prince’s Hall is the building to look at slowly. Its carving is the most eye-catching in the temple. Walk round the outside before you go in, then look at the joinery: the carvers’ work is in the gaps, not only on the panels.

Most visitors read the carvings at eye level and miss the tabasami (手挟), the carved brackets under the eaves, shown here. The temple’s main hall has gold lacquer inside and zodiac and mythical beasts in the second hall, so bring a small pair of binoculars or your phone’s zoom.

The town’s carving street. Studios sit next to cafés, galleries and sake shops, and the shopfronts carry carved seven lucky gods and the twelve zodiac animals: 31 cat statues have been counted. You will hear mallets through open workshop doors. Carvers use 200 to 300 kinds of chisel and knife.

Studios keep their own hours and some close without notice, so treat the street as a walk and the studios as a bonus. Some take carving experiences under a craftsman’s guidance: ask at the door.

A roadside station with a carving hall: hundreds of works on display, carvings for sale near the entrance, playable guitars, and a gacha machine that pays out a carved wooden lion tag and a discount ticket for the Sculpture Hall. Useful if you arrive by car, a rest stop if you do not.

More than 200 carved works to see and buy. Admission is ¥500 (children ¥250), open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed the second and fourth Wednesday of the month and over New Year. It is outside the old town, so it suits drivers best.

There is a guinomi workshop: you carve a cup from Japanese cypress, brand “Inami” on it, then taste sake at Wakakoma Brewery. Book by 16:00, three days ahead. The workshop is closed from 28 December to 5 January.

The Nanto tourist office also runs a one-on-one Inami tour with a local guide that includes carving a cup at Kurokami-an (the entrance is shown here) and lunch. Its two language versions quote different prices (¥18,000 and ¥26,000), so confirm the figure when you book.

Seven houses, each for one group a night and each tied to a maker: a carver (TATEGU-YA, KIN-NAKA), a lacquer artist (taë), a potter (MITU), a Buddhist sculptor (TenNE), a garden designer (RoKu) and a craft designer (OUKA, the seventh house, opened in April 2026). Each has a kitchen. Guests can book an apprenticeship with the stay: ¥13,000 a person, about three hours, for a carved print, lacquered chopsticks, a lotus-shaped small dish or a spoon. A workshop alone is not sold; you must sleep at least one night.

Rates start at ¥22,000 a person with breakfast for two sharing at TATEGU-YA (up to 9 guests), ¥26,000 at KIN-NAKA and MITU, and ¥31,000 at OUKA. A cheaper sister, APARTMENTS by Bed and Craft, has rooms from ¥12,000 room only, for one person. The site says it was selected for the MICHELIN Guide 2026. It is not on Agoda: book on its own site.