Crafts / Chopstick making / Tokyo

Chopstick making in Tokyo

Four workshops at four places. In three of them you plane a square stick of wood into a tapered pair: a busy studio in Asakusa, a smaller chopstick shop near Kuramae, and a private session with a master joiner in Kuramae. In the fourth, a chopstick shop in Kagurazaka, you paint and decorate a ready-made pair. Prices run from US$6.59 to ¥31,500 a person.

Prices checked 11 Nov 2026, in the currency each site showed; Wabunka prices are in yen, the currency it charges in · Some links may earn us a commission

Some booking links may pay us a commission. You pay the same price either way. Details.

The short version

If you want the cheapest hour ZEN Craft Chopsticks Workshop A one-hour shared class in Asakusa. You plane your own pair and take it home. US$6.59 · Klook If you want to decorate, not carve Hyozaemon Kagurazaka A private hour in a Kagurazaka chopstick shop. You paint and decorate a ready-made pair. From €43 · GetYourGuide If you want a master craftsman Mogami Kogei A private 90 minutes with an Edo joiner in Kuramae. You plane and oil your own pair. From ¥31,500 · Wabunka

Side by side

Cheapest on the left, as listed. Scroll sideways on a phone.
Group classZEN Craft Chopsticks Workshop
Small groupHashiyuki Chopsticks Shop & Workshop
PrivateHyozaemon Kagurazaka
PrivateMogami Kogei
Price per person
US$6.59 (listed as 50% off)
From €14 (reduced from €17)
From €43 (reduced from €54)
From ¥31,500
Length
1 hour on Klook. GetYourGuide lists 35 minutes in one place and about 1 hour in another.
1 hour
1 hour
90 minutes
Group size
Shared class. Size not stated.
Up to 10 people
Your party only, up to 4 people
Your party only, 1 to 6. Minimum charge is for 2 people.
Where
Asakusa, Taito
Misuji, Taito (near Kuramae)
Kagurazaka, Shinjuku
Kuramae, Taito
What you do, as listed
Choose from two included woods, shape a blank with a Japanese hand plane, then smooth and finish it.
Choose from three included woods, shape the pair with a hand plane in a jig, then sand and polish it.
No woodworking. Paint a ready-made pair of wooden chopsticks and decorate it with stickers, Japanese motifs or raden shell inlay.
Choose a hardwood or softwood, plane it to an octagonal or hexagonal pair under an Edo sashimono joiner, then sand and finish with perilla oil.
You take home
One pair, same day, in a cover
One pair, same day, wrapped
Your decorated pair, same day. A paulownia box is a paid option.
Your pair, same day, in a handmade Aizu paulownia box
Finish and care
Not stated. Reviewers describe oiling the chopsticks as the last step.
Not stated
Not stated. The listing calls them functional but says nothing about the paint or how to wash them.
Oil-finished. The listing says a light scrape and a new coat of oil or lacquer keeps them going for decades.
English
English-speaking staff
English-speaking staff
Instructor speaks English
English-speaking guide included
Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 11 days before
Reviews
5.0 from 2,427 on Klook. 5.0 from 2,205 on GetYourGuide.
4.8 from 220 on GetYourGuide. 4.5 from 11 on Klook.
None shown
65 on Wabunka. No star score shown.
Book
See on Klook
See on GetYourGuide
See on GetYourGuide
See on Wabunka

Before you book

The cheap price buys the plain version. The Asakusa and Misuji classes include two or three standard woods. Better woods and engraving cost extra, and neither listing says how much. It is the most common complaint in their reviews.

The low prices are sale prices. The three cheaper classes were all marked down on the sites we link to when we checked, the cheapest by 50% with a countdown timer. Expect to pay more on another day.

Tokyo has dozens of near-identical classes. Search for chopstick making and you will find many one-hour classes in Asakusa, Ginza, Shinjuku and Shibuya under different names, often the same few studios listed many times. We picked one of the busy studios, not the only one.

Ask about the finish if you plan to eat with them. Only the Kuramae master's listing says how the chopsticks are finished: perilla oil. The others don't say what goes on the wood, and the decorating class doesn't say whether the paint is meant for daily use.

The private session has a two-person minimum. Wabunka's price is per person, but it charges for at least two. One person pays ¥63,000.

The four workshops

No. 003-1Group class

ZEN Craft Chopsticks Workshop

1 hour · Shared class · Asakusa Tosei Building, 10th floor · Listed on Klook as "Tokyo Asakusa Chopsticks Workshop: Make Your Own Pair"

The cheapest class on this page, in the same Asakusa building as the ZEN kintsugi and knife classes. You pick one of two included woods, plane a square blank into a tapered pair and smooth it down. Better woods and engraving cost extra, and neither listing says how much. A gift-set package, with a box, a chopstick rest and an engraved box lid, was US$32.99 on Klook. Payment on site is by card only, and arriving more than 15 minutes late may mean rebooking. The US$6.59 price was marked 50% off, with a countdown saying the discount would end within hours. GetYourGuide showed €6, reduced from €11.

Reviewers liked: Patient, friendly staff who explain every step, and a class that works for children and first-timers. Many call it good value and say they leave with a souvenir they will actually use.

Reviewers didn't: Some reviewers wanted the prices of wood upgrades and engraving made clearer before they arrived.

Summarized from reviews on Klook (5.0 from 2,427) and GetYourGuide (5.0 from 2,205).

Pick it if you want a short, cheap and well-reviewed class near Senso-ji, with children or on your own.

Skip it if you want time with a working craftsman. This is a busy studio staffed by instructors, not an artisan's workshop.

US$6.59 per person · listed as 50% off · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on Klook
Two people plane wooden chopstick blanks at a table covered in wood shavings Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 003-2Small group

Hashiyuki Chopsticks Shop & Workshop

1 hour · Up to 10 people · Misuji, Taito · Listed on GetYourGuide as "Tokyo: Chopstick Making Workshop with Artisan"

A chopstick shop with a workshop in Misuji, a quieter area near Kuramae. The listings say a local artisan guides you; reviewers name several different teachers. You choose from more than ten woods, three of them included, plane the pair into shape with the wood held in a jig, then sand and polish it. Higher-grade woods and engraving cost extra, and neither listing gives a price. The class is capped at ten people. Klook sells the same session, at the same address, for US$13.19 under the name "Tokyo: Asakusa Artisan Chopstick-Making Experience", though the shop is not in Asakusa itself.

Reviewers liked: Friendly, patient teachers and clear steps. Families with a wide range of ages say they could all take part, and several mention that the jig makes shaping easier.

Reviewers didn't: Some wanted the cost of premium woods and engraving made clear up front. One reviewer found the room small and cramped.

Summarized from reviews on GetYourGuide (4.8 from 220) and Klook (4.5 from 11).

Pick it if you want a smaller class than the big Asakusa studios, in a shop that sells chopsticks, and you don't mind a walk from the station.

Skip it if you want to stay in the middle of Asakusa, or dislike being offered paid upgrades.

From €14 per person · reduced from €17 · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
An instructor guides a student decorating a pair of chopsticks in a shop with chopstick displays Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 003-3Private

Hyozaemon Kagurazaka

1 hour · Private, up to 4 people · Hyozaemon chopstick shop, Kagurazaka · Listed on GetYourGuide as "Tokyo: Make Your Own Japanese Chopsticks (Private Class)"

A class in the Kagurazaka branch of Hyozaemon, a shop that sells only chopsticks. It starts with the basics: how to measure the right length for your hand, how to hold and move chopsticks, and some table manners. Then you decorate a ready-made pair. You paint the base and add stickers, traditional motifs or raden, small pieces of iridescent shell set into the surface. There are no blades or planes, and the listing says it suits all ages. The class is sold by a tour company rather than the shop, and was new on GetYourGuide when we checked, with no reviews yet.

Reviewers liked: Not stated. The listing showed no reviews when we checked.

Reviewers didn't: Not stated.

No review summary. GetYourGuide showed no reviews for this class.

Pick it if you want a private, hands-off-the-tools session for young children or a small family, and care more about the look of the chopsticks than making them.

Skip it if you want to shape wood yourself, or you want reviews to go on.

From €43 per person · reduced from €54 · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
Hands sanding a wooden chopstick on a block, with wood shavings on the table Photo: Wabunka
No. 003-4Private

Mogami Kogei

90 minutes · Private, 1 to 6 people · Kuramae, Taito · English-speaking guide

A private session at a workshop founded in 1912, one of about ten remaining makers of Edo sashimono, the Tokyo joinery used for cabinets and boxes. Third-generation master Yutaka Mogami or his son Ryo teaches you. You choose your wood from samples such as maple, ash, oak, hiba and hinoki, plane it down by hand in the way apprentices start, sand it and rub in perilla oil. A talk on the craft and a look round the showroom are included. The paulownia box is made by the workshop, and engraving on it costs extra and must be booked 10 days ahead. The price is per person, but the minimum charge covers two, so a solo traveler pays double. Shoes come off inside; bring socks and perhaps a mask for wood dust. The venue is not wheelchair accessible, and the shop takes cash only if you want to buy anything.

Reviewers liked: Time with a master craftsman in his own workshop, and an interpreter who makes real conversation possible. People call the planing harder than it looks but say they were helped through it, and many value the box and the stories as much as the chopsticks.

Reviewers didn't: A few reviewers mention the high price, though they still say it was worth it.

From 65 reviews on Wabunka. No star score shown.

Pick it if you want to learn from a working master joiner, with an interpreter, and leave with a boxed pair.

Skip it if you are traveling alone on a budget. The two-person minimum makes it ¥63,000 for one, against about ¥1,000 for the cheapest class here.

From ¥31,500 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on Wabunka