Tokyo Weekender - November 2017

EXPLORE KORIYAMA:
The Gateway
to Fukushima
Words by Lisa Wallin. Photographs by Robert Kirsch
If you enjoyed our Tohoku
travel guide, you might
decide to linger longer
and experience more. We
recommend discovering
Koriyama – a city many
have never heard of, yet
is packed with unique
experiences (and also
happens to be a host town
for the Netherlands for the
2020 Tokyo Olympics)
Koriyama is almost straight due north
from Tokyo and is a gateway to the
rest of Fukushima Prefecture. Once
a village with little arable land,
everything changed in the Meiji era
when Dutch-driven technology and knowhow
created a canal leading from Lake Inawashiro
to the village. The city exploded from a population
of 2,000 to its 330,000-plus residents, and
became a rich cultural and technological hub.
Despite this – and its convenient Shinkansen
station, which is only 77 minutes from Tokyo –
the city often gets passed by, both literally and
figuratively. We set out to see what treasures
await here, and were pleasantly surprised.
LIFE, CRAFTS, AND ALL THAT JAZZ
We arrived in Koriyama on a crisp autumn
morning and were instantly whisked off to
Takashiba Deko Yashiki, a collection of five
craft-making houses that have been making
traditional hariko dolls and masks for over 300
years. We had set our sights on painting one of
these papier-mâché figures, but first we were
in for a show – and a lecture on life.
Hiroji Hashimoto, a very spry 72-year-old
and 17th generation doll maker at Hashimoto
Hiroji Mingei, makes 3,000-5,000 dolls and
masks a year at his workshop together
with only one or two staff members. As he
explained the doll construction process, he
got a little deeper. “Everything I make here
is possible because people hundreds of years
before me made these molds and these
dolls,” he said, clearly thankful and amazed
by his forefathers' dedication to the craft.
He continued, on a slight tangent: “However,
it's important to have balance in life. We as
humans dirty our hearts and need to find
a way to clean the soul. I can sit and work
quietly making dolls for hours on end, but if
I only did that, it would be no good. When I
wear one of these masks I become lively ...
It's a kind of release.”
Not quite sure what he meant but
listening eagerly to his advice, we watched
as he put on his mask and transformed into
48 | NOVEMBER 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER