1 / 3Kumano brushesPhoto: Douglas Perkins / CC BY 4.0
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Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
The brush capital that supplies makeup houses worldwide — a Kumano fude is craft you use daily. We have not confirmed a named Kumano-brush shop downtown, so ask at the department stores before you go.
- It is not only a photo stop: a farming town that supplies the world's make-up bags.
- 3 hr door to door needs a 5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Kumano brushes is famous
A farming town that supplies the world's make-up bags
Kumano makes about 80 percent of Japan's brushes, a trade that began when farmers took up brush-making in the agricultural off-season in the 1830s. The same workshops now supply the world's makeup brushes. The Japanese women's football team was given Kumano brushes after the 2011 World Cup.
Twenty minutes from Hiroshima, a town of 24,000 makes about 80% of Japan's brushes — and the make-up brushes in luxury counters from Paris to New York are very often made here, by hand, by people whose grandparents made writing brushes for schoolchildren.
Travelling to Nara and Osaka and returning with stock
Craftsmen brought in to teach the valley
Every child needs a calligraphy brush; Kumano already makes them
The same untrimmed-tip technique, applied to make-up
You do not need to travel to Kumano — ask at the city department stores, and check stock before you go. They pack flat.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~5h with tramPeace Memorial Museum & Dome
The reason your ship stops here.
See the detail
See · ~6h by tram and JR, ~4.5h by the direct boatMiyajima & Itsukushima shrine
The vermilion gate in the sea, deer on the sand, oyster smoke in the lanes.
See the detail
Eat · ~3hOkonomiyaki at Mitchan
Hiroshima-style means layers, not batter — cabbage, soba, egg, and the founder’s sauce.
See the detail