Making things, celebrated by a whole town. In Matsumoto, Nagano, at Agata-no-Mori Park, on the last weekend of May, Craft Fair Matsumoto is held. Some three hundred selected makers gather from across the country, with woodwork, ceramics, glass, dyeing and weaving, metalwork, leather, all of it handmade. It began in 1985, a pioneer of Japan's craft fairs, and inspired craft markets across the country. Matsumoto has long been a town of folk craft, deeply tied to Soetsu Yanagi's mingei movement, a place that seeks beauty in the things of daily use. Amid fresh greenery, makers' tents line the lawn, and customers pick up bowls and chairs to examine them. These are not mass-produced goods, but things someone made over time. Little by little, you choose your life with your own hands. Matsumoto is also a popular place to relocate to. One of Nagano's defining craft events.