新潟県　関川村　猫ちぐらの里

Overview

The cat basket “Neko Chigura” has been waiting for five years due to a flood of orders. We visit the Nekochigura no Kai in Sekikawa-mura, Niigata Prefecture, where they are made. At a roadside station, grandmothers demonstrate how to make cat baskets. At the quiet home of a member of the Neko Chigura group, we made cat chigura while playing with several cats in the large garden. While looking at the important cultural asset Watanabe House, we went to see the signboard cat of a ryokan (Japanese inn) in the village. Then, in front of the sunken hearth at the 200-plus-year-old house of the Neko Chigura chairman, enjoy making cat chigura with his beloved cats.