Takaoka Copperware Workshop

Takaoka has been Japan's center for bronze and copper casting since the early 1600s, producing Buddhist temple bells, tea ceremony utensils, and everyday tableware for four centuries. Workshops here walk you through sand-casting, where you pack a mold by hand, and tin-plate hammering, shaping flat metal into bowls or cups one tap at a time. The finished pieces are yours to take home. Classes run mornings and afternoons and suit solo visitors as well as couples looking for a hands-on half-day in Chubu.