Where to Stay:
Mashiko Dokei - quaint, family-run inn, close to the main street of Mashiko
Mashiko Satoyama Resort Hotel - larger hotel complex, what it lacks in design it makes up with onsen bath
Where to Eat:
Tonkatsu 吉川 - I don’t think you’ll find a larger portion of tonkatsu anywhere in Japan. It’s delicious and crisp, and the style of tonkatsu is the one where the panko outer layer stays connected to the juicy pork inside. Delicious!
Starnet - cafe with store attached, coffee, tea, sweets, and set lunch
Where to Visit:
Shoji Hamada Memorial Mashiko Sankokan Museum - loved seeing his collection of works from around the world, plus the buildings that he reconstructed on the property are an architectural treat
Tonoike Sake Brewery - for both tasting, or even workshops if you book in advance
Pejite - gorgeous building, housing all kinds of crafts from furniture, to knives, to clothes
Toneriko - up the hill from Starnet is another beautiful shop/cafe with a collection of different artists’ works
Artists in the Area:
Click on their name below to see their work on Instagram.
Akio Nukaga - ceramics
Hideki Takayama - woodworking
Keisuke Okada - woodworking
Douglas Black - ceramics
Yumiko Shimoya - ceramics
Maki Nitta - iron
When to go for the Festival:
Over Japan’s Golden Week, May
First Week of November
How to Get There:
Take the Shinkansen to Utsunomiya Station (gyoza capital!) and from there you can drive to Mashiko, it takes about 1hr on the Shinkansen, and then another 45 minutes in the car. I think it’s nice to have a rental car so you can visit other destinations in the area like Nikko or Oze National Park. If you don’t want to take a rental car, you can also take a bus from Utsunomiya to Mashiko.