Metal cast wind chimes are an important part of Odawara’s culture, and at the Kashiwagi shop, just a short walk from Odawara Station, they have been making these traditional metal bells for seven generations.
Visitors now have the chance to create their own personalized wind chimes with the help of an expert craftsman at Kashiwagi, so I headed down there with a friend to give it a go!
First, they show you examples of the two different-shaped bells that you will make. Then they leave you with art and design books and some bell templates on paper so you can create your own design.
Each bell has two sides, so you will do four designs in total, which means your creativity can run wild, though you are limited to what you can manage to reproduce on the medium of the mould.
From paper, you copy the design to the inside of the mould with crayon, which is harder than pencil on paper because of the thickness of the crayon and the rounded concave surface of the mould.
Once the design has been transferred, you carve the crayon lines by scratching away at the surface of the mould with a small tool. This is quite slow going, but also quite satisfying as you can see the design emerging. You need to be careful not to scratch too deep though, or you’ll go right through the mould.
When you’ve finished carving out your design, you can glue the two halves of each wind chime together (making sure to match the correct sides together), clip them to hold them in place, and stick the insert in the middle.
At that point, you hand your moulds over to the craftsmen and let them do the dangerous, molten-hot-metal work of casting your wind chime.
They will be ready in one or two weeks at which point you can collect them, or you can arrange shipping domestically or internationally for a small fee.
The experience only costs ¥3000, including instructor and materials for two wind chimes which make a really special, personal souvenir or gift that will last forever, so this is an experience in Odawara that I really recommend.
