The wind chime is a pleasure for Japanese people to enjoy the sounds of coolness in the heat of summer. It is a common scene for Japanese people to see a man with wind chimes on a stand since the good old times. It is one of our great past times to enjoy season by seasonal sounds, such as the sound of thawing snow in the spring, wind chimes in summer, bell-ringing crickets in the fall and the call from the backed sweet potato stand.

But, unfortunately these traditions are dying out.  Wind chimes originated in China, they were used for ceremonies. They came to Japan in 6th – 8th century. They began to be made with glass when glass came in from Portugal in 16th century. It spread into the public in 18th century.

There are only two stores that make those particular glass Edo wind chimes. One is the Shinohara wind chime and the other one is Shinohara maruyoshi wind chime which is run by the son of the former store. This Shinohara wind chime was founded in 1915. The closest train station is Shinjuku line Mizue station run by Tokyo. This district is in a more industrial area, far from the typical touristy experience.

It gets really crowed with families with small children in August when they have special workshops. You sometime find groups of young ladies and foreigners. There is a long line for the wind chime decoration room. The workshop starts with blowing scorching heated glass. You will blow melted glass into a round shape on the tip of a long metal straw shaped stick for a couple of times with a craftsman’s assistance. You can stop blowing when the glass becomes a good size. It won’t take a long time to do it, but it is quite exciting. You have to wait for 15minutes for the glass to cool down after a craftsman has cut it off from the stick. They will hand it to you when it is completely cooled down and the cut off edge filed.

Next step is to decorate it with water base poster colors. You have to color them on the inside of the wind chime instead on the outside. The first color painted appears at the front of the design. The background color must be painted last. It is quite difficult to arrange the design with these opaque colors that hide the color underneath. So you would see how those chimes that are sold at the store are well decorated with nice colors and fine brush strokes.  

The last step is to attach a string and a piece of paper which is called the “tongue” to catch the wind. They will put your wind chime in a box for you to take home. It is a great feeling to get a handmade wind chime and an experience to take home with you as a memory of a Japanese summer.

4-22-5 Minami Shinozaki-cho, Edogawa ku, 133-0065
Tel 03-3670-2512
URL http://www.edofurin.com/
Wind chime decoration workshop
About one hour
Price: One wind chime per person 1,000 yen (tax included)
You can take it home with you on the same day

Wind chime making workshop
Get to experience from blowing glass to decorating
They will give it to you in a box to take home with you
Price: One wind chime per person 1,500yen (tax included)
Open Monday through Saturday 1:00pm to 6:00pm
Closed on Sunday and Holidays