Japan’s Crown Prince Visits Gourd Craft Exhibition

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:36 JST, June 9, 2023

Crown Prince Akishino visited the 48th exhibition of the Zennihon Aihyokai, a nationwide association of hyotan Japanese gourd admirers, in Kamikawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Thursday.

On display at the exhibition venue were 120 works crafted from hyotan by enthusiasts of the bottle-shaped vegetable.

“The shapes are beautiful,” said the prince, who serves as the association’s honorary president, as he intently examined each piece.

The prince is scheduled to return to Tokyo on Friday after visiting the town’s Tonomine Kogen highland, where part of the film adaptation was shot for Haruki Murakami’s novel “Norway no Mori” (“Norwegian Wood”).