Asahikawa Furniture
licensed photographNissy-KITAQ / CC BY-SA 4.0

Hokkaido · AsahikawaNo.1134★★Open in map →

Asahikawa Furniture

— Hokkaido's hardwood furniture region

craftOff the trail — and worth it

Central Hokkaido has built furniture from local hardwood for over a century, and the trade is listed as a Hokkaido Heritage item. In Asahikawa's Nagayama district the region's makers keep one shared showroom where the whole trade can be seen at once.

  1. FromAsahikawa Station
  2. ~15 min by carDohoku Bus 70 or 630
  3. Get off atNagayama 2-jo 10-chome (Dohoku Bus)
  4. On foot
  5. Asahikawa Furniture
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a working showroom rather than a hidden corner, and local furniture buyers use it as much as travellers do. What keeps it calm is the address. It sits out in Nagayama, away from the station hotels and the ramen village, so short stays rarely reach it.

Where it is

102 more notes in Hokkaido · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

  1. Ground-floor brand boothspermanent stands where each maker sets out chairs, tables and storage to be tried
  2. ADC SELECTIONa gallery corner of small craftwork and original pieces, sized for hand luggage
  3. ADC LABthe workshop room where visitors shape a wooden object and carry it out
  4. Second-floor maker roomsupstairs display rooms held by individual factories, from long-running brands to small studios
  5. ADC MUSEUMdesign-competition prizewinners and chairs tracing what the region has produced

How to actually get there

  1. Asahikawa Station → the 1-jo 8-chome bus stop in front of the station (short walk).
  2. Board Dohoku Bus route 70 (Toma Line) or 630 (Takasadai–Nagayama 2-jo Line) toward Nagayama.
  3. Get off at Nagayama 2-jo 10-chome and walk to the Asahikawa Design Center on the same block.
  4. Start with the ground-floor booths, then go up to the museum floor before you leave.
Dohoku Bus from the stop in front of Asahikawa Station
From Asahikawa Station, walk to the 1-jo 8-chome bus stop in front of the station and board Dohoku Bus route 70 (Toma Line) or 630 (Takasadai–Nagayama 2-jo Line) heading out to Nagayama. Get off at Nagayama 2-jo 10-chome. Fares on these city routes are settled on board, so carry coins and notes rather than relying on a card.
Same routes back toward the station
Cross to the stop on the other side of the road and take the same Dohoku Bus routes back through the city to Asahikawa Station. Services thin out once the evening peak passes, and the centre itself shuts in the late afternoon, so a return planned for daylight needs no timetable work.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Asahikawa sits near the middle of Hokkaido, with the Daisetsuzan range behind it. Furniture making spread from the city into the neighbouring towns of Higashikawa, Higashikagura and Toma, and the trade is now one of the country's main furniture regions. Its shared front door is the Asahikawa Design Center in the Nagayama district, run by the Asahikawa Furniture Industry Cooperative. Around 30 makers hold permanent booths inside, and roughly 1,200 pieces of furniture and craftwork are laid out to be tried. Work that is otherwise scattered across four municipalities stands side by side under one roof.

How to enjoy it

Doors open at 10:00 and close at 17:00, so this is a late-morning or afternoon stop rather than a first-thing-in-the-day one. The hands-on workshop runs at weekends, which is the difference between looking at furniture and putting a tool to wood yourself. Work through the ground floor first and finish in the museum upstairs, so you meet the current work before you see where the shapes came from.

Background & history

Woodworkers arrived while the city itself was still being laid out. The railway reached Asahikawa in 1898, and the army's Seventh Division began transferring in from 1899, drawing joiners and cabinetmakers from across Japan to a place already ringed by hardwood forest. In 1949 the makers formed the cooperative from which today's Asahikawa Furniture Industry Cooperative descends. Since 1990 the region has also run an international furniture design competition, held once every three years, and its winning prototypes are shown at the centre.

Before you go

Cash
The showroom is open to anyone during opening hours and doubles as a shop, so nothing needs booking just to look. The weekend workshop is priced by the object you make, and the current courses are listed on the official site. Bus fares are paid on board.
Good to know
The closed day is Tuesday outside public holidays, and the centre also shuts over the New Year period. Midwinter in central Hokkaido brings deep snow and short daylight, so allow extra time on the road.
Another way
By car it is about 35 minutes from Asahikawa Airport, and the centre keeps a free car park for 80 vehicles that also takes coaches. Asahiyama Zoo is about 13 minutes away, which puts the two in one day's driving.
After you get off
Get off at Nagayama 2-jo 10-chome. The centre carries the same block name in its address, and the entrance is a short walk from the stop.

Nearby notes

Nesnad / CC BY 4.0

Food · Hokkaido★★★

Asahikawa Ramen

2.0 km · straight line

欅 (Keyaki) / CC BY-SA 3.0

Entertainment · Hokkaido★★★

Asahiyama Zoo

6.1 km · straight line

Distances are straight lines on the map, not travel times.