Aichi Local Goods Guide

What Aichi is known for

The 8 products below are what Aichi is known for, ordered by how strongly each is rooted in the prefecture — what it is, and why it comes from here.

1. 01Nagoya black formal dyeingTextiles

   Around Nagoya in Aichi, white silk is marked for sleeves, collar, body panels, and crests before pattern paper, brass nets, red or indigo under-dyeing, and black dyeing shape formal cloth.

2. 02Nagoya yuzen dyeingTextiles

   From Nagoya and Owari silk textiles to Aichi workshops, Nagoya yuzen follows white silk through aobana underdrawing, paste resist, steaming, washing, and restrained shibu gradation.

3. 03Owari Buddhist altar fittingsCraft objects

   Owari butsugu grew in Aichi’s Owari and Nagoya area as a family of wooden lacquered Buddhist implements shaped by separate specialists in woodwork, carving, lacquer, gold leaf, color, metal fittings, and maki-e.

4. 04Nagoya seasonal festival ornamentsCraft objects

   Across Nagoya and the Chubu production area, dressed dolls, warrior banners, yellow-bellied carp streamers and bonbori lanterns form seasonal displays for children’s growth.

5. 05Toyohashi brushesHome & living

   Around Toyohashi, Toyokawa, Gamagori, and Shinshiro, animal hair and bamboo or wood shafts are shaped through nerimaze before ink becomes a written line.

6. 06Tokoname wareTableware

   In Tokoname City, Aichi, hill kilns, sea-borne jars, iron-rich red clay, and polished unglazed surfaces lead into present-day kyusu, flower vessels, sake vessels, and plant pots.

7. 07Mikawa wareTableware

   Rooted around Shinkawa in Hekinan, Aichi, Mikawa ware is best understood through working objects: shichirin, konro, kamado, hibachi, fire-extinguishing pots, and flowerpots.

8. 08Sanshu onigawara ornamental tilesHome & living

   In western Mikawa, clay from Mt. Sanage, the Yahagi River, and workshops around Takahama and Hekinan shaped roof ornaments that later entered alcoves and entrances.

Aichi's specialties by category

How the same thing is made elsewhere, and what differs: the category overviews start here.

• Japanese Seafood by Region: Fish, Crab, Oysters, Uni, Nori and Dried Goods

  Kind before region: fresh fish is about handling, crab and oysters about season, nori and dried goods about processing.

• Japanese miso and soy sauce by region: white, red and bean miso, and where each is made

  Start with type, not region: white miso is sweet and short-aged, red miso is salty and long-aged, bean miso is soybeans and salt only.

• Japanese Ceramics by Kiln: Earthenware, Porcelain, Unglazed, Painted and the Kiln Regions

  Earthenware or porcelain first, then the surface: unglazed like Bizen, glazed like Hagi, or painted like Kutani.

• Japanese Tea by Region: Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha, Hojicha and Where Each Comes From

  Pick the type before the region: sencha is brisk, gyokuro is sweet and thick, matcha is ground tencha, hojicha is roasted and not bitter.

• Japanese Textiles: Tsumugi, Kasuri, Yuzen, Komon, Indigo and Where Each Comes From

  Woven or dyed first: tsumugi, kasuri and chijimi weave dyed yarn; yuzen, komon and bingata dye white cloth.

• Household Tools by Japanese Craft Region: Desk, Kitchen, and Home Objects Still Made for Daily Use

  Everyday Japanese tools, each tied to a named craft region and still made for use.

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