Awesome time making the bamboo lantern - Nori is a friendly, courteous instructor. From our meeting point, we walked through the famous bamboo forest (part way) and ducked out to a lovely neighborhood until we reached her studio. The space was clean, bright, and wonderfully set up. Her English is flawless so everyone was comfortable conversing with her. The lantern project was delightfully fun. (My recommendation is to select a design that has several larger holes because it’s not only easier to drill but more light comes through once completed.) You’ll enjoy this experience!

Great family activity - Noriko is very very kind. She was also very patient with my twin 11 year old boys. Also very knowledgeable as my one boy had sooooo many questions and she answered everything for him in perfect English. She walked us through the bamboo forest where she took some spectacular pictures of us. We went through the forest the day before with another tour but just got ordinary pictures. The 15-20 minute walk was worth it for us because of those pictures. We brought home our lanterns in our carry on luggage with no issues. The lanterns are sitting beside our beds looking as a one of a kind piece of art work. Not the usual tourist souvenir. Highly recommend this activity.

Above and Beyond - The host took us on a tour of Arashiyama before leading us to the workshop for the craft. She shared fascinating information about local history and bamboo. She was an excellent teacher for the workshop and our lanterns came out beautifully! We had a blast and would wholeheartedly recommend this experience to anybody!

Truly Memorable Experience - My husband and I are so thankful that we found this experience! Not only is Nori talented and knowledgeable, but she is an absolute delight. She took us on a walk through the bamboo forest and told us so much about the plant itself before we got to her workshop. On the way, she also told us a lot of the history of the area. And then the workshop portion was so much fun! We picked our designs and Nori made sure we were comfortable with the crafting process before we started on our own pieces, and she was ready to help when needed. Not only do we now have beautiful, hand-made souvenirs, but we also have this great experience to look back on. We would highly recommend this experience to anyone traveling to Kyoto - thank you, Nori!!!

A highlight of our time in Kyoto! - Making these lanterns was such cool experience and a highlight of our trip. Noriko met us right at the train station at the agreed time and we had a lovely walk through the Arishiyama neighborhood including by a Shrine before arriving at her workshop. She was patient and kind with our 7 and 9 year old kids and the project was so engaging that they stayed engaged throughout our 3-4 hours there. She even knew precisely when we all needed a break from the drill press and provided some tasty Japanese treats. We enjoyed getting to know Noriko a bit too. She has traveled quite a bit and is extremely knowledgeable (especially about Japan, of course). Lighting the lanterns once they were complete was so satisfying and they are sitting on our shelves at home now. It was raining and dark by the time we finished and Noriko kindly took us back to the train station.

5/5 - Noriko-san and her husband were super accommodating. Great experience. We toured through the bamboo forest before entering the workshop, and our guide had a lot of good information.

Really great experience! - Really fun experience walking through bamboo forest. Great instruction. Our lanterns turned out great!

Awesome Experience - This was a really fun experience! Our guide, Noriko, was extremely knowledgeable and super friendly. It was wonderful to stroll with her throughout the town and then do the craft with the help of her and her husband. I highly recommend doing this activity! We had a great time

Wonderful experience - We met at the train station then walked through the bamboo forest learning about bamboo and the region. Nori has a wonderful workshop where I selected my bamboo and design and got to work. She was easy to talk with and patient, since we had some time, we walked her neighbourhood and past a stunning temple as she escorted me back to the train station. It was a wonderful afternoon experience.

Great Class, Disappointing Outcome - Pros: - Teacher and husband were great - Really easy to use the drill - Nice quiet class Cons: - They wrap our bamboo lamp in bubble wrap, which is great, but as the bamboo is still moist (green), it caused major mould issues that we uncovered when we got home - it has now stained with the mould. - You walk yourself back to the station, which is 15-20 minutes. Not an issue for some, but could be. Overall, it was fun but the class isn’t equipped to handle thing post class. They need a solution for how to handle this issue with the mould.