The Tsubame-Sanjo Factory Festival, an event where renowned companies in Niigata's Tsubame-Sanjo region open their factories to visitors and allow them to tour and experience manufacturing sites, will be held from October 5th to 8th.
The event, which began in 2013, is now in its fifth year. This year's theme is "Open Up, Kouba! Four Autumn Days to Experience Tsubame-Sanjo in Full," and 83 "Kouba" factories, 11 "Kouba" farms, and 9 "Kouba" purchasing locations selling kouba-made items, are scheduled to participate. Visitors can visit normally closed spaces, casually interact with the people working at kouba (factories and farms), and get a close-up look at the artisans' handiwork.
During the festival, from 10:00 to 17:00, the Sanjo Monozukuri School Multipurpose Hall will host the official "Production Area Festival," bringing together production areas from all over Japan. In addition, official receptions will be held at each factory. There will also be workshops such as "File sharpening experience" (Erasawa Files), "Pure copper paper knife engraving experience" (Sakurai), and "Scissors assembly and scissors case making experience" (Kobayashi Scissors), as well as "Official Bus Tours" where you can tour the factories on themed buses, such as "Inherited Techniques" touring historic factories and "Factory x Farm x Purchasing" touring the three KOUBA.

Participating KOUBA include Hinoura Cutlery Workshop, which makes knives using traditional Japanese techniques from start to finish, Ishimoku, which is working to create products that pursue new forms of paulownia wood, Hokko Shoji, which develops material recycling based on metal recycling technology, Oizumi Bussan, which also produces Kai Bojesen's cutlery, Echigo Miso Brewery, which continues to preserve the flavors of Echigo, Watanabe Orchard, a famous orchard where Mozart is played, Sanjo Spice Laboratory, which serves original spice dishes, and Tsubame-Sanjo Station Tourist and Product Center Tsubame-Sanjo Wing, an antenna shop for Tsubame-Sanjo.
【Event Information】
5th "Tsubame-Sanjo Factory Festival"
Dates: October 5th-8th
Venue: All of Sanjo and Tsubame cities, Niigata Prefecture, and surrounding areas
Time: 9:00-16:00 (excluding 12:00-13:00)
Free admission