Oasis 21 i-Center Experience Event <Family Crest Printing>

When you want to enjoy Nagoya even more, why not experience traditional crafts at Oasis 21?

Dyeing has been deeply rooted in Nagoya since ancient times, including “Arimatsu and Narumi Shibori-zome,” “Nagoya Kuro-montsuki-zome,” and “Nagoya Yuzen.” The Oasis 21 i-Center is holding a “Kamon-zuri” (family crest printing) experience event where you can feel the joy of dyeing. Small children are also very welcome, and English support is available.

• About Reservations
• Kamon-zuri Experience

<h2 id=”reservation”>About Reservations</h2>

Reservation Start Date and Time
November reservations start: November 2 (Monday) from 10:00 AM

Oasis 21 i-Center

• Phone: 052-963-5252
• Reception hours: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Internet Application Form
Internet Application Form

• Reservations are prioritized; if there are vacant seats on the day, participation is possible.
• We cannot accept any reservations if you contact us before the reservation start date and time.
• Each reservation covers a maximum of 30 minutes and one piece per person for the experience.

Please choose from the following start times.

Morning Session: 11:00 / 11:30 / 12:00 / 12:30
Afternoon Session: 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30 / 16:00

• In the event of traffic disruptions due to bad weather, etc., on the day of the event, the experience event will be canceled. In such cases, we will contact those who have made reservations, so please be sure to provide your name and contact information at the time of reservation. In the event of cancellation, information will be provided in the “News” section of this site and on this “Event Page.”
• If you wish to cancel your reservation, please contact the Oasis 21 i-Center (Phone: 052-963-5252).

Request for Cooperation

• Hand sanitization
• Submission of name and contact information
  These will be discarded after one month. Personal information provided will not be used except in emergencies such as bad weather.
• Photos will be taken during the workshop for recording purposes, ensuring faces are not identifiable.
• Experiences using techniques other than those specified will be declined.
• Participation will be declined for those with a fever of 37.5 degrees or higher on the day.

<h2 id=”event”>Kamon-zuri Experience</h2>

Choose your favorite family crest and color to create an original family crest handkerchief, bandana, or tenugui (hand towel). Approximately 40 types of family crests are available, including famous crests and those of military commanders.

• Required time: 15 minutes
• Instructor: Mr. Takehiro Nakamura, Yamakatsu Senko Co., Ltd.

The fee depends on the item you choose to dye:

• Handkerchief: 1,000 yen
• Bandana: 1,200 yen
• Tenugui: 1,500 yen

Event Details

• Date: November 16, 2026 (Monday)
• Location: In front of Oasis 21 i-Center (Oasis 21 Basement 1st Floor)
• Fee: Handkerchief 1,000 yen / Bandana 1,200 yen / Tenugui 1,500 yen
• Contact: Oasis 21 i-Center (Reception hours 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM)
• TEL: 052-963-5252
• Access:
  • Get off at “Sakae” Station on the Subway Higashiyama Line and Meijo Line, immediately upon exiting the East Ticket Gate (directly connected to the station).
  • Get off at “Sakaemachi” Station on the Meitetsu Seto Line, immediately upon exiting the ticket gate (directly connected to the station).

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What is a kamon, and what role do Japanese family crests play in the culture?

A kamon is a Japanese family crest: a small, stylized design used to identify a family, clan, or house. The motifs are usually geometric or borrowed from nature — paulownia, chrysanthemum, wisteria, and arrow feathers are common examples. For centuries, kamon have served much the same purpose as surnames. They appeared on clothing, banners, weapons, and buildings, allowing onlookers to identify a person’s family or political ties at a glance.

The use of crests became more formal in the Heian period, when noble families marked their carriages and garments. In later periods, samurai families used kamon on armor and battle flags to identify their forces. Over time, the practice spread beyond the warrior class. Merchants and farmers adopted crests for ceremonial dress, grave markers, and family documents. By the late Edo period, many commoner families had their own crests, often with local variations.

Kamon still appear at formal events today. They are embroidered on wedding and funeral kimono, printed on paper decorations at shrines, and used as markers on family graves. The use is largely customary rather than strictly legal: wearing a crest is a way of acknowledging family history, not a claim to noble status. In many cases, the same design is shared by unrelated families, or modified by branches over time.

Kamon-zuri is the craft of printing crests onto cloth, traditionally with carved wooden blocks. Workshops that practice it produce items such as tenugui towels, bags, and furoshiki wrapping cloth, giving visitors a practical way to engage with the motifs. The craft is a reminder that kamon are not abstract symbols from the past; they are still made, worn, and used in everyday objects.

ACN presents Yoyogi Forest of Lights ~Forest of Light~

An experiential illumination where you walk 1.8km through the “Tokyo Yoyogi Park” forest in the heart of the big city using all five senses is born!

In the heart of Tokyo’s urban sprawl, a new sensory experience emerges as “ACN presents Yoyogi Forest of Lights ~Forest of Light~” transforms the natural landscape of Tokyo Yoyogi Park. Unlike conventional illuminations—which are often confined to indoor venues or strictly paved urban corridors—this event leverages the rich, organic nature of the park to create an overwhelming immersive space woven from light and sound. Visitors are invited to traverse a 1.8km path, providing an experience as if they have strayed into a forest at night.

A Multisensory Journey: Beyond Visual Spectacle

The primary appeal of this event lies in its interactive production, which encourages visitors to engage with light art using their entire body rather than remaining passive observers. While dynamic light gradations coloring the trees satisfy the sense of sight, the installation is designed to stimulate all five senses to deepen the sense of immersion:

• Hearing: Music and ambient sounds echo through the natural silence of the forest.
• Smell: The crisp, cold winter air carries the distinct scent of the surrounding trees.
• Touch: Interactive mechanisms ensure that the light changes according to the visitor’s pace.
• Taste: A dedicated food and drink area provides moments of happiness and peace amidst the journey.

Cultural Roots and Urban Tradition

The conceptual foundation of this event is rooted in European winter culture. In various European countries, the tradition of enjoying long winter nights often involves illumination events within natural spaces—such as parks—where locals and tourists gather to find community in the darkness. By adopting this motif, the organizers aim to establish a similar tradition within the heart of Tokyo.

Strategic Significance and the Support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

“ACN presents Yoyogi Forest of Lights” represents more than just a visual display; it is a strategic effort to promote the nighttime use of Yoyogi Park. As the first illumination of its kind to be held in this specific location, the project is conducted under the support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The event serves as a highlight program within the Yoyogi/Shibuya area of “ARTE TOKYO (Tokyo International Cultural Arts Festival),” which runs from October to December. Through this collaboration, the event intends to create new cultural and artistic charm within the Tokyo night.

*Please check the official website for detailed information.

Basic Info

• Location / Nearest Station
  Yoyogi Park
  Meiji-Jingumae <Harajuku> Station / Harajuku Station / Yoyogi-Koen Station / Yoyogi-Hachiman Station
• Address
  〒151-0052
  Yoyogikamizono-cho, Jinnan 2-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
  MAP
• Event Period
  2026/11/13 (Fri) ～ 2027/01/11 (Mon/Holiday)
• Time
  Start 17:30 / End 22:00
  Last admission 21:00
• Official Website
  https://www.yoyogiforestoflights.tokyo/

*The listed content may have changed. Please check the official website of the venue or organizer for the latest information.
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Yoyogi Park is a public park in Tokyo, adjacent to Harajuku Station and the Meiji Shrine. It covers roughly 50 hectares. Before becoming a park, it was the site of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Village. Today its layout combines open lawns, wooded sections, and paved paths. The park accommodates joggers, dog walkers, and picnickers; on weekends, the main plaza often hosts informal performances and community events. It is also a well-known cherry-blossom spot, and the trees draw large crowds in late March and early April. The mix of cleared areas and mature vegetation has made the park suitable for temporary installations. Yoyogi Forest of Lights, for example, set digital artwork within the wooded sections rather than treating the park as a neutral exhibition space. The park is less a single attraction than a piece of urban infrastructure with multiple uses.

Reiwa 8 Archaeology Fair: Aichi’s Archaeology 2026

The Reiwa 8 Archaeology Fair—also billed as “Aichi’s Archaeology 2026″—offers an in-depth look at the latest archaeological research from the Tokai region, with a focus on Aichi Prefecture. From November 10 to 29, 2026, visitors to Nagoya’s Kanayama Minami Building can explore a poster exhibition presenting the results of recent excavation surveys and research findings from sites across the region, compiled by archaeological organizations and universities.

The fair is designed to make this research accessible. The poster format allows visitors to move through the material at their own pace, while the surrounding program provides opportunities to go deeper. On November 28 and 29, a Saturday and Sunday, the researchers in charge of the surveys will deliver presentations in the hall, along with lectures and symposia. These sessions give the public a chance to hear directly from the people who led the fieldwork and to learn about the methods and conclusions shaping Tokai archaeology.

The fair also aims to bring new people into the field. The organizers state their goal plainly: to create more archaeology fans. With that in mind, the Archaeology Festa will be held on Sunday, November 15, offering a workshop that both children and adults can enjoy. Participation costs 300 yen to cover materials, while admission to the fair itself is free.

The venue, the Nagoya City Center Machizukuri Hiroba/Hall, is on the 11th floor of the Kanayama Minami Building, just outside the south exit of Kanayama General Station. The fair is closed on November 16 and 24, and open from 10:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, with an earlier close of 17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

Practical information

• Dates: November 10 (Tue) – 29 (Sun), 2026
• Closed: November 16 (Mon), November 24 (Tue)
• Hours: 10:00 – 18:00 (10:00 – 17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)
• Location: Kanayama Minami Building 11th Floor, Nagoya City Center Machizukuri Hiroba/Hall
• Admission: Free (Machizukuri Hiroba/Hall); November 15 Archaeology Festa: 300 yen material cost
• Access: Immediately from the south exit of Kanayama General Station
• Contact: Aichi Prefecture Education and Sports Promotion Foundation, Aichi Prefecture Buried Cultural Properties Center
  • TEL: 0567-67-4163
  • Homepage: https://maibun.com

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The Tokai region is a geographic and cultural area in central Japan, along the Pacific coast of Honshu. Its name comes from the Tōkaidō, the historic road that connected Kyoto and Edo, now Tokyo. In current usage, the region usually covers Aichi, Gifu, Mie, and Shizuoka prefectures, with Nagoya as its principal city.

Archaeological work in the Tokai region has produced a long record of contact between eastern and western Japan. Jomon pottery found in the area includes local styles that differ from those of the Kanto and Kansai regions. During the Yayoi period, wet-rice agriculture spread through central Japan, and excavations in Aichi and Shizuoka have yielded wooden tools, storage structures, and settlement layouts associated with early paddy farming. Kofun-period burial mounds in Tokai show variation in size and construction, and some contain bronze mirrors and other goods that came from the continent or from the Kinai region around present-day Nara and Kyoto. In the medieval period, ports along the Tokai coast handled trade between Kyoto, Kamakura, and other centers; contemporary documents record shipments of timber, salt, and ceramics.

The region’s position between east and west makes it a useful case study for how material culture changed as it moved across Japan. The exhibitions planned for Visit Aichi’s Archaeology 2026 are expected to draw on this local record and present it alongside comparative material from other parts of the country.

Mamoru Hosoda’s Origins / Exhibition

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the largest exhibition to date for animation director Mamoru Hosoda will be held. Centering on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and Wolf Children, the exhibition will display precious production materials such as storyboards, layouts, original drawings, and background art across a large space. It does not stop at the famous films, though. By tracing back to Hosoda’s work as a stage director, his independent animations from his student days, his oil paintings, and the original experiences in his hometown of Toyama, the exhibition unravels the origins of the director’s creativity and the essence of his visual direction alongside numerous famous scenes.

Event details

• Period: Wednesday, October 28, 2026 – Monday, January 4, 2027
• Closed: Thursday, December 31, 2026, Friday, January 1, 2027
• Hours: 10:00–18:00 (Last entry until 17:30)
• Location: Grand Front Osaka North Building, Knowledge Capital Event Lab (3-1 Ofukacho, Kita-ku, Osaka City)
• Fees: General/University Students 2,300 yen, Middle/High School Students 1,300 yen, Elementary School Students 700 yen *Preschool children free
• Inquiries: 0570-200-888 (12:00–17:00 *Closed on weekends and holidays)
• Website: https://www.ytv.co.jp/event/contents/hosodagenten-exhibit.html

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Mamoru Hosoda is an animation director from Toyama Prefecture, born in 1967. He began his career at Toei Animation, working on series such as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, then moved into feature films. His credits include The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, Mirai, and Belle. In 2011, he co-founded Studio Chizu with producer Yuichiro Saito.

His films are usually built around family relationships and the difficulties of growing up. Several also involve digital or virtual worlds, but these are treated as extensions of the characters’ lives rather than replacements for them. The animation itself is precise: backgrounds are detailed, movement is natural, and fantasy elements are introduced without undermining the realism of the everyday scenes around them.

An upcoming exhibition in Osaka will present concept art, storyboards, and production material from Hosoda’s major works. It will show how settings were designed, how character expressions were developed, and how the studio translated scripts into finished scenes. The exhibition is aimed at both longtime viewers and newcomers. It is less about celebrating Hosoda’s reputation than about showing the craft behind his films.