A trip to Echizen City for people of various backgrounds to experience the city's climate.Guillaume Pinsemin and Lauren Hata and their daughter, Manon, will be touring Echizen City this time.They came to Japan about 10 years ago and runs a place where people can enjoy culture and art called “Bunka Minka,” a renovated old private house in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Right:Guillaume Pinsemin,Center:Manon,Left:Lauren Hata

Guillaume is a videographer and film director from France.He became interested in Japanese culture after being exposed to Japanese Go in France.While traveling around Japan, he decided to live in Japan with Lauren on his fifth visit.They were particularly impressed by Ishikawa, where traditional crafts are flourishing and Japanese traditions remain strong.They moved to Komatsu because They longed for a rich natural environment and rural lifestyle that they could not experience in the city.Guillaume said, “I want to enjoy the cultural differences between Ishikawa Prefecture and Echizen City, even though they are in the same Hokuriku region.”This is where the journey of the three begins.

First came “kicoru” on Tansu-cho Street.Opened in 2014 by Oyanagi Tansu, a long-established Echizen tansu store that has been in business for over 100 years, the atelier offers custom-made furniture using traditional tansu techniques and collaborations with designers, as well as workshops.
This time, we will experience “making a wooden clock."We will create one-of-a-kind clocks by combining and decorating wood.



The workshop is open to small children, so Manon took on the challenge.The wooden parts are put together under the guidance of Norikazu Oyanagi, the fourth generation owner of Oyanagi Tansu.

After combining the wood for the clock's base, the patterned and animal-shaped parts are decorated.Many people spend more than an hour trying to decide what parts to place where.Manon also has a serious expression on her face, as if she were a craftsman.

After nearly an hour of work, it was finally completed!Manon looks a little shy, but she seems very satisfied with the finished product.The finished clock will be displayed in her room.

After the workshop was over, we were shown how chests were made.Echizen tansu is the result of a combination of three Echizen techniques: a unique *sashimono technique of joining wood to wood, metal fittings using hammered blade techniques, and lacquer coating to protect the wood and make the tansu strong.It is a traditional craft that was born in this region, where various manufacturing areas are concentrated within a 10-kilometer radius.Oyanagi Tansu also offers workshop tours, so you can get a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of manufacturing.

Planing wood is indispensable in the production of Echizen chests, which are made with the utmost care and attention to detail.The thinly planed wood looks like paper.The cypress wood chips had an indescribably good smell, and Manon had her hands full.

After the workshop at Oyanagi Tansu, participants will walk along what is known as “Tansu-cho Street."More than a dozen Japanese and Western furniture manufacturers and joinery merchants were clustered along the 200-meter-long street, which was inhabited by chest of drawers makers from the late Edo period to the middle of the Meiji period.

There are stores that retain their old-fashioned charm as you walk around.Guillaume said, “It's like stepping back in time to the old world."

On the way there, we stopped at Misaki Tansu Store, a long-established chest store with a history of more than 160 years.Founded around 1865, the company produced “Echizen-tansu” (Echizen chests), which were used as a substitute for a safe for merchant families during the Edo and Meiji periods, as well as custom-made *sashimono for temples and shrines.Currently, the company makes a variety of products using chests of drawers techniques, ranging from single-piece furniture using all-paulownia chests and sashimono techniques to wooden toys.

“Echizen tansu is very durable and is said to last for more than 300 years,” said Toshiyuki Misaki, the eighth-generation owner of Misaki Tansu Store.The chest of drawers in the back of the store was made by Mr. Misaki's ancestors 150 years ago.However, none of the metal fittings have rusted, and the beautiful zelkova wood grain stands out.

While looking at a chest of drawers, Lauren noticed a “heart mark” on the metal fittings!However, this is not a heart mark, but a pattern called “inome,” which resembles a boar's eye.The eyes of the beast have the power to ward off evil, which is why they are often seen on Echizen chests.

*sashimono=Boxes, furniture, fittings, etc. made by combining wood. In particular, it often refers to items that are assembled using techniques such as mortise and tenon without using metal nails.

Manon said, “I'm hungry!” so we decided to have lunch at her request.
We came to “Menbou Iseya,” a restaurant established in the Edo period in Echizen City.Soba made from buckwheat flour produced in Echizen City is very popular and attracts many fans from within and outside of the prefecture.

What you can enjoy here is the “Himitsu no Gochiso Set” in which you can enjoy Echizen City's famous “Echizen Oroshi Soba,” “Borga Rice,” and “Chuka Soba” all at once.

“Echizen Oroshi Soba” is a well-known specialty of Fukui Prefecture, but it actually originated in Echizen City.It is said that in 1601,Honda Tomimasa, who became lord of the castle in Fuchu (now Echizen City), was accompanied by a soba craftsman from Fushimi, Kyoto.

The “Borga Rice” is an omelet with pork cutlets on top, topped with the restaurant's special sauce.It is said to have been created more than 30 years ago in Echizen City, and is a soul food loved by the locals.

And we must not forget the “Chuka Soba”.While the term “ramen” became widespread during the postwar instant ramen boom, the traditional name “chuka soba”continued to be used in Echizen City, especially in the area around the former Takefu Station.This is another Echizen gourmet dish that is loved by the locals and boasts strong popularity.

The volume of these three popular dishes all together is this large!Everyone will share the dishes together.

The Echizen Oroshi Soba have a buckwheat aroma as you bite into them, and the Borga rice pork cutlets made with filet mignon are easy for children and the elderly to eat and go great with the omelette rice.Manon seemed to like the light-flavored the Chuka Soba, made with a broth of Uru-me and kelp, so much that she had to have another bowl.

おなかいっぱいになったところで、ちょっとひと休み。次にやってきたのは、「かこさとし絵本記念館　砳（らく）」です。

越前市が誇る絵本作家 かこさとしさんといえば、『からすのぱんやさん』や『だるまちゃん』の絵本でおなじみ。絵本館にはかこさとしさんが手がけた絵本や紙芝居など約5000冊の蔵書があり、全国からかこさとしさんのファンが訪れます。

たくさんの絵本に大興奮のマノンちゃん、「ママ、これ読んで！」と何冊もローレンさんのもとに持ってきました。読み聞かせタイムが始まりました。

絵本の部屋のほかにも、だるまちゃんやマトリョーシカの衣装を着たり昔遊びや工作が楽しめたりする遊びの部屋やかこさとしさんの原画が展示されている部屋など、子どもから大人までかこさとしワールドを堪能できます。

外にはオリジナルの遊具もあり、マノンちゃんはさらに元気いっぱいに。子どもだけでなく大人ものんびりできる気持ちの良い空間でした。

たくさん遊んで、今度はおやつの時間。次に訪れたのは越前市の西側にある「観光農園どんぐり山」です。ここでは6月はさくらんぼ狩り、8月上旬からぶどう狩りを楽しむことができます。

ぶどう畑に入ると、ほのかな甘い香りが漂います。ぶどうはおなじみの巨峰をはじめ、安芸クィーンやブラックオリンピアなど、市場には出回らない希少な品種も。なかでもシャインマスカットは毎年すぐに予約が埋まってしまうほどの人気だそう。

マノンちゃんも、ぶどう狩りに挑戦。ぶどうの房は果汁が詰まってずっしり重く、高いところはギョームさんにサポートしてもらいながら、ハサミで一緒にぶどうをとっていきます。

自分たちでとったぶどうをその場ですぐに食べられるのは何よりも贅沢。種なしなので食べやすく、ジューシーな甘みが口いっぱいに広がります。

園内で採ったぶどうは食べ放題ですが、ひと房食べきるのがルール。余った分を持ち帰る場合は有料となります。いろんな品種を味わい、マノンちゃんも大満足でした。

最後に訪れたのは、北陸道 武生ICから5分ほどの場所にある「御誕生寺（ごたんじょうじ）」。2009年に建立された、曹洞宗の瑩山（けいざん）禅師にゆかりのある寺院です。

境内に捨てられていた猫を住職が引き受けたことがきっかけで「猫寺」として知られるようになり、今や全国各地から多くの人が参拝に訪れる人気スポットになっています。

一時は寺で飼育する猫の数が80匹ほどにまで増えたこともあったそう。しかし、一匹一匹に名前と首輪をつけて世話をし、里親を探すための譲渡会など地道な活動を経て、現在では約30匹以下にまで数を減らしています。

のんびりお昼寝している様子やごはんを食べている様子など、かわいい猫たちの姿に癒され、ほっこり。こうして越前の旅は幕を閉じました。

「今まで知らなかった越前市のことがわかって、新しいインスピレーションをもらったよ」とギョームさん。「子どもと一緒に楽しめる場所が多いからまた遊びに行きたいわ」とローレンさんも嬉しそう。マノンちゃんはお昼寝するのも忘れるほど一日中元気いっぱいで楽しむ姿が印象的でした。

ものづくりや食、自然、歴史など越前の魅力をつめこんだ旅に、子どもも大人も大満足だったようです。