Washi Paper Festival Month

About this event

November in Ogawa Town is celebrated as "Washi Paper Festival Month," featuring various activities related to traditional Japanese washi paper. November 27 is "Ogawa Washi Day," and this month commemorates the 2014 registration of "Washi, craftsmanship of traditional Japanese hand-made paper" (including Hosokawa paper) on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. During the period, events, workshops, and exhibitions are scheduled to be held at various venues across the town. For example, at the Ogawa Town Hall Front Plaza, there will be fold-dyeing (orizome) workshops and washi product sales at the Commerce and Industry Festival, as well as raw material displays and "kazuhiki" (bark stripping) experiences at the Agriculture Festival. At Roadside Station Ogawamachi (Michi-no-Eki Ogawamachi), visitors can enjoy exhibitions such as "Festival to Enjoy Washi!", "365 Traditional Colors: Ogawa Washi," and ancient washi displays. At the Ogawa Town Washi Experience Learning Center, exhibitions of works by trainees in the handmade washi successor training program and tours/lectures by the Hosokawa Paper Craftsmen Association are scheduled. At Coworking Lobby NESTo, a "Workshop on Making Planner Covers with Ogawa Washi" will be held. In addition, an "Ogawa Studies Forum" exhibiting works created by elementary school students will take place at elementary schools across the town. At Midori Kaikan next to Tochimoto Kannondo and around the station area, the "Washi no Neri Washi Revival Project" will host the handmade washi picture scroll exhibition "Choju-giga Exhibition in Musashi's Little Kyoto: Ogawa Town." Furthermore, as part of the Ogawa Washi Coaster Project, customers who dine at participating partner shops and say the secret password will receive an Ogawa washi coaster. Details regarding event contents and workshop programs are scheduled to be released sequentially starting in October 2026.

Venue

Ogawa Civic Hall

55-2 Otsuka, Ogawa, Hiki District, Saitama 355-0328