Oita Bamboo Craft Event “Take-e” Ran at the Oita Prefectural Art Museum Until November 8, with Live Making, a Bamboo Market and a Lighting Ceremony

Oita Prefecture held “OITA BAMBOO ART & LIGHTS 2026 Take-e” from Wednesday, October 28 to Sunday, November 8, 2026, in the 1st-floor atrium of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum in Oita City. Plans included exhibitions and live making of bamboo objects by bamboo craft artists living in the prefecture, bamboo craft workshops, the “Take no Ichi” market selling works and household goods, and live performances on bamboo instruments and more. At the lighting ceremony on Friday, October 30, the light-up began in time with a performance. Admission was free, and the event was planned and run by the NPO BEPPU PROJECT.

What is Take-e? Seeing and touching the process by which a single stalk of bamboo becomes an object

The announcement describes Take-e as an event where visitors can see, learn about, touch and experience the process by which a single stalk of bamboo turns into a new object. Rather than simply lining up finished works, it is structured to show makers at work and the very process of working bamboo.

The event is organized by Oita Prefecture and co-organized by the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, with planning and operation by the NPO BEPPU PROJECT. Spatial design direction is by bamboo artist Chikara Kojima and creative direction by Atsushi Nagato. Inquiries about the event go to the prefecture’s Arts and Culture Promotion Division, Planning and Promotion Department.

Why bamboo in Oita? A madake-producing region and Beppu bamboo craft

According to the announcement, Oita Prefecture is Japan’s top producer of madake bamboo. High-quality bamboo has been put to many uses, from daily goods to souvenirs and works of art, beginning with Beppu bamboo craft, a nationally designated traditional craft. Take-e can be seen as an event that gathers the region’s materials, techniques and makers in the 1st-floor atrium of the prefectural art museum.

Take-e has been held at the museum in autumn before. In 2023 (October 17 – November 4) and 2024 (October 11–26), it took place in the 1st-floor atrium under the name “OITA BAMBOO ART & LIGHTS,” and the 2024 announcement noted that the bamboo works would be lit up at night. In 2025 it was held in the 3rd-floor foyer as “OITA BAMBOO ART 2025.” In 2026, “& LIGHTS” returns to the name, and the venue moves back to the 1st-floor atrium.

Highlights: Live making, displays on “higo” strips and weaving, and the lighting ceremony

The centerpiece is bamboo objects by bamboo craft artists living in the prefecture. Live making will also take place so that visitors can feel closer to the process of creating works and to the artists absorbed in their making. There will also be displays where visitors can learn about and try out the process of turning bamboo into “higo” (thin strips) and the different “weaves.”

At the lighting ceremony from 17:00 on Friday, October 30 (about 30 minutes, no registration required), the bamboo artists will be introduced, and the light-up will begin to the accompaniment of bamboo instruments. Live performances on bamboo cello, bamboo flute, pan flute and other instruments are scheduled twice a day, from 15:00 and 17:00, on Friday, October 30, Saturday, October 31, Sunday, November 1, Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8. There will also reportedly be collaborative performances among the players. Performers include Chikurin Kyoshin Take no Gakudan, Aman no Takebue, viola player Kanna Yanai and Chikara Kojima.

Take no Ichi and workshops: Participating artists and activities

At “Take no Ichi OITA BAMBOO MARKET,” bamboo craftspeople living in the prefecture will exhibit and sell works and household goods. It opened on Saturday, October 31, Sunday, November 1, Monday, November 2, Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, from 11:00 to 17:00 each day. As of October 14, the announcement lists participating artists including itohen, Kobo HUTAN, Take Kobo Yururira, Take to Suzume, take×tera, Yuki Minamikawa, Mokuboku and RISACAGO, and participating companies including Nagai Seichiku Co., Ltd. and Yamashita Kogei Co., Ltd.

Bamboo craft workshops are available every day during the event, all for a fee. They range from simple accessory-making that beginners and children can enjoy to full-fledged bamboo basket-making that takes time. Options include making a bamboo bead pendant, an ajiro-weave art frame, a Jomon flute, a bamboo ornament, a mutsume-weave basket with a wavy rim and a small yatara-weave basket, as well as drawing with bamboo charcoal ink. Content may change depending on which artists are present.

Editor’s perspective

Held in a region known for a traditional craft, the event places its emphasis on showing not only finished pieces but also the processing of materials and the making process. The structure of Oita Prefecture as organizer and BEPPU PROJECT handling planning and operation has been common to every edition since 2023. By combining exhibition, sales and hands-on experiences in a single free-admission space, it is easy to drop in for people encountering bamboo craft for the first time.

The exhibition “Our Renoir,” which opens at the museum on November 23, is introduced in a separate article. Craft and design exhibitions around the country are compiled in our roundup of design, craft and architecture exhibitions for autumn–winter 2026, and the craft art fair held in Kanazawa in November in our article on KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2026.

Overview

Name: OITA BAMBOO ART & LIGHTS 2026 Take-e
Dates: Wednesday, October 28 – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Hours: 10:00–19:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays)
Venue: Oita Prefectural Art Museum, 1F Atrium
Address: 2-1 Kotobukimachi, Oita City
Admission: Free (workshops are fee-based)
Lighting ceremony: Friday, October 30, from 17:00 (about 30 minutes, no registration required)
Organizer: Oita Prefecture
Co-organizer: Oita Prefectural Art Museum
Planning and operation: NPO BEPPU PROJECT
Inquiries: Arts and Culture Promotion Division, Planning and Promotion Department, Oita Prefecture
Official website: https://www.opam.jp/events/detail/7d6b6a29-9f2d-4e8a-a877-930aa13c43c9
*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Interior of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, September 2015 (Photo: Oita Kiseichu (大分帰省中), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on announcements by the NPO BEPPU PROJECT (October 20, 2026, and others) and the Oita Prefectural Art Museum (August 22, 2023), and information on the official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team