Beginner-Friendly Japanese Crafts You Can Complete in a Day

Japan has a rich cultural heritage and a talent for artisan products made by hand with the highest quality of all-natural materials. Many Japanese crafts can be considered tech-free activities that can be enjoyed by families, with several being easier to pick up than others. Particularly, if you already have an interest in Japanese culture. 

7 Beginner-Friendly Japanese Crafts You Can Complete in a Day

Kanzashi Hair Ornaments

Japanese kanzashi hair ornaments date back centuries and, to this day, is a traditional craft that takes years to master. As a hobby though, you don’t need perfection. Traditionally, the hair ornaments would be made with silk and rice glue. As a creative hobby, you can make the same style of things with alternative materials. It's a good way to try a new hobby and if you love it, progress to the higher quality materials. 

Swap out silk for any sort of fabric and replace the rice glue with a needle and thread. Much of the designs focus on petals by folding fabric and then attaching those together to make flowers, adding embellishments for decoration, and finishing off the design with hair accessories, be that a pin, comb, or hair clip.

An interesting aspect of Kanzashi is that there are certain flowers associated with each month. Chrysanthemums in January, Japanese plum blossoms in February, narcissus (daffodil) in March, cherry blossoms in April and so on. You could have a themed monthly craft day based just on kanzashi hair ornaments. 

Origami or Kirigami 

Origami is a great Japanese art activity for kids because it's paper folding only, while kirigami involves cutting and folding paper. Both are relatively easy to pick up with beginner tutorials online. You can find various origami books if you want to keep it as a tech-free activity. 

If you’d rather follow the traditional Japanese teachings of origami, check out the collection of books published by Origami House Publishing. The books are published in Japanese with English translations and have diagrams so you can follow along. 

Kirigami is getting into more advanced designs, such as 3D sculpting with only paper, craft scissors and some clever folding techniques. If you feel you’re getting bored of origami and want to up the difficulty, the natural progression would be kirigami. 

Washi Paper Crafts

Washi paper could be considered the backbone of Japanese crafts. Heritage washi paper is of the highest quality, made with “kozo, gampi, or mitsumata fibers”. In the US, you can buy authentic washi paper from Awagami.com, which is made in Tokushima, Japan, and imported to the U.S.

Given the strength and durability of washi paper, it’s an ideal material to easily transform some of your bookshelf decor, such as gluing strips to planters with succulents, vases, or even bookends on your shelf. If you have any wooden art on your shelves, washi paper could be used to give them a vibrant color transformation in a single afternoon. 

Mizuhiki Decorations

Mizuhiki decorations are made with Japanese cord that’s made by twisting rice paper and adding starch to make it sturdy. The cords are traditionally used in sets of 3, 5, or 7 cords of different colors, styled with knots to create any number of designs. 

The final designs are then used to accessorize gifts, signifying a seal, but you can do a lot more with them. For example, in card making, you could use mizuhiki decorations sort of like stamps or embellishments, and if you fancy covering any of your books in fabric, washi paper or any other type of book sleeve, a mizuhiki design attached to the book spine can add a decorative touch to your bookshelf. 

Tissue Paper Flowers

Flowers are a cultural symbol of Japan, so it’s unsurprising that a lot of the Japanese craft activities have a floral theme, such as Kanzashi hair ornaments. You don’t need speciality papers like washi though. Tissue paper is perfect for a Japanese craft on a budget. 

Some of the simplest floral designs are flat flowers. For something with a 3D effect, you can stack the tissue paper, fold it like a fan, cut a notch in the center, wrap wire around it and pull it to create a fan shape. 

For added finesse, edges can be cut and you can create single flowers in any color, use green tissue paper to make leaves, and join them together on floral wire for display. For something more natural, stick the paper flowers to a thin twig. 

Japanese Fan Craft 

Japanese fans are folding fans, whereas fans from other regions are flat. The Japanese word for these is sensu. Traditionally, the frames would be made of bamboo and the paper fans made with high-quality paper. As a hobbycraft, you can use whatever you have, or whatever budget you have for materials. 

The base materials you need are thick cardstock or paper, decorative paper, glue, scissors, and optional embellishments if you want to decorate it further. 

A unique characteristic of the Japanese fan is the shape of the blades. The shape is called “Suehirogari”, which translates to “widening”. In Japanese culture, the shape is considered lucky. To make it, use two measurements. The base of each blade is one measurement, and then add a couple of centimetres to the top. For example, 1 cm at the base, and 3 cm at the top. 

The measurements the Japanese use for Cha-sen, which is the folding fans used at tea ceremonies, are 15cm for women, and 18cm for men. 12 pieces of 3cm wide blades attached together is enough to make a folding fan that opens to about 120 degrees, which is standard. The open dimensions can be anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees. 

To attach each blade together, use some sturdy wire at the narrow end and weave string through the top of the blades, taping each end and at the top of each fan blade to secure the thread in place. 

Once built, it's a functional piece of kit you can take with you on the go to fan yourself down, or simply open it up and use it as wall or shelf decor. 

DIY Book Nook Kits with a Japanese Theme

DIY book nook kits are a fascinating hobby for vivid readers to get dip their into the world of puzzling. Book nook kits are like miniature dioramas, sort of like miniature dollhouses for your bookshelves, minus the dolls. 

Some kits have a Japanese theme such as the Sakura Densa by Rolife that only takes 5 to 6 hours to complete (it's #5 on our Top 10 Book Nook Kits Under $100),  and our Tokyo Alley book nook kit. For any Japanese-themed bookshelves or feature walls,  these can be the display pieces that give your display a WOW factor.