Taketombo — Programs

How do you want
to travel?

Two ways to experience Japan with Taketombo — intimate open-enrollment craft immersions, and bespoke retreats designed around your group.

Open enrollment · Annual

Annual Craft
Immersion Programs

Fixed dates, intimate group. The same craft, the same community, the same season — every year. Open to any curious individual.

View programs ↓ By arrangement · Private

Custom Craft
Incubation & Retreat

Your group, your purpose, designed with you. For creative groups, research teams, and leadership retreats seeking something Japan cannot offer anywhere else.

Learn more ↓
Annual craft immersion programs

Small-group. Fixed dates.
Open enrollment.

We run a small number of signature programs each year — the same craft, the same community, the same season. Each runs once annually and is limited to 6–8 participants. What makes these programs rare is what brought them into existence: years of trust built with local artisans, craft communities, and municipalities who rarely open their doors to outside visitors. The access we offer is not available through any itinerary — only through the relationships that created it.

Urushi forest in Daigo, Ibaraki
October · Ibaraki Prefecture

Urushi Forestry &
Kintsugi Workshop

Daigo, Ibaraki · 9 days · Max 8 participants

Exclusive access to a living urushi forest and the artisans who tend it — an experience made possible only through Taketombo's long-standing relationships with the Daigo community. Intensive hands-on kintsugi using natural lacquer at its origin. The most authentic traditional kintsugi immersion available in English, in Japan, in context.

Open — October 22–30, 2026
View program & reserve →
Daigo, Ibaraki in winter
February · Ibaraki Prefecture

Japanese Paper
at its Origin —
Kozo Steaming Workshop

Daigo, Ibaraki · Details to be confirmed

Daigo's kozo mulberry is the raw material behind some of Japan's finest washi — a tradition quietly sustained by a handful of families in the mountains of Ibaraki. This program follows the full process from steamed bark to finished sheet, in the very season it has been practiced for over a thousand years. A hidden chapter of Japan's craft heritage, rarely seen by anyone outside the community.

Coming soon · 2027

Register your interest and be the first to know when enrollment opens.

Register interest →
Koishiwara pottery, Fukuoka
June · Fukuoka Prefecture

Koishiwara
Pottery Immersion

Koishiwara, Fukuoka · Details to be confirmed

Tucked into the mountains of Fukuoka, Koishiwara is one of those places that rewards the traveler who finds it — a living pottery village where kilns have been burning for over 350 years and the techniques for flying-planer and brush-stroke decoration are still passed within families. Close enough to reach from the city, far enough away to feel entirely removed from it.

Coming soon · 2027

Register your interest and be the first to know when enrollment opens.

Register interest →
Custom craft incubation & retreat

Your group.
Your purpose.
Designed with you.

For groups who share a creative orientation and want something Japan cannot offer through any standard itinerary. We work with you to design an intimate craft immersion around your group's specific purpose — the artisans, the craft, the location, and the pace, all chosen deliberately.

This is not a group tour. There is no itinerary handed to you at check-in, no performance put on for outside visitors. What we create together is genuine access — to communities, workshops, and conversations that take years of relationship-building to open.

Beyond the experience itself, your visit matters. Every custom program brings new energy and direct economic support to rural craft communities that rarely appear on any travel map. You travel well, and you leave something behind worth leaving.

— Creative studios & design practices seeking inspiration, material research, or a Japan craft dialogue that feeds directly into their work
— Executive & leadership retreats for teams who want to step entirely outside their industry and find new thinking through craft, making, and slow attention
— Academic & research groups — small seminars, design faculty, graduate researchers exploring Japanese craft culture, material traditions, or rural revitalization
— Collector & connoisseur circles — intimate gatherings of people who already understand the value of what they're looking at, and want to go deeper

Minimum 3 participants, maximum 6. Exceptions possible upon discussion — rural Japan rewards small groups who move at its pace. Every program is a collaboration — enquire to begin the conversation.

Custom craft retreat in rural Japan

Start the
conversation

Whether you're interested in an annual program or want to explore a custom retreat, we'd like to hear from you. Tell us about your group, your interest, and what you're looking for — we'll take it from there.

No obligation, no rush. Every program begins with a conversation.

Or email us directly at hello@goenne.com

We typically respond within 2 business days.