Nan journeyed to Japan for a study and knowledge exchange

A delegation from Nan Province, led by Ms. Wilaiwan Budasa, Deputy Governor of Nan, alongside representatives from the Nan Provincial Administrative Organization and the Nan Creative City Working Group, journeyed to Japan for a study visit and knowledge exchange within the Creative Cities Network, focusing on the craft of pottery.

The delegation, which also included Dr. Chumpol Musikanont (DTC Deputy Director), Colonel Nawin Preechapanichyakul (DTC Nan and Sukhothai Manager), and Dr. Phimonphan Sakitram (Nan Community College Director ), visited the Tamba Traditional Craft Park in Hyogo Prefecture. The objective was to gain firsthand insight from a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the Crafts & Folk Art category, to learn practical strategies for driving a creative city, and to receive recommendations on development aligned with the UNESCO framework, translating these lessons into tangible actions for Nan.Tamba-Sasayama has been a UNESCO Creative City since 2015, notably housing Tanba-yaki, one of the Six Ancient Kilns, representing a collection of Japans oldest and most significant pottery production sites, with a heritage spanning over 800 years.

This city clearly demonstrates how traditional knowledge can concretely elevate the grassroots economy and craft tourism. Through this exchange, Nan gained crucial operational insights, such as strategies for building strong engagement with the artisan community, linking educational institutions with the production process, and establishing transparent performance indicators.

For Nan, experiencing the standards expected by UNESCOfrom heritage preservation and multi-sectoral collaboration to the monitoring systemwas a fast-track learning process, ensuring its development plans are globally aligned from the outset.The core concept of the Tamba Traditional Craft Park is its design as a functioning "integrated craft park." Within the same location, it hosts a systematically organized museum and gallery at Kamamoto Yokocho which features works from approximately 50 kilns, local restaurants, and pottery studios for visitors. This entire experience is seamlessly connected along a route that encourages visitors to "See, Learn, Buy, Eat, and Travel," transforming craft from a mere exhibition into a revenue-generating creative economy activity with immediate circulation of funds.

Another vital lesson was the dual focus on preserving kiln technology alongside embracing innovation. The park maintains a functional, traditional climbing kiln or snake kiln alongside modern brick kilns like the Heiseigama. This approachensuring old structures are usable, narrate a story, and are safereflects a mindset that values technological heritage while adapting to contemporary environmental and tourism standards. For Nan, with its strong cultural and landscape capital, this highlights a path toward developing permanent demonstration and learning centers and establishing safety standards within its artisan communities.The community dimension is the bedrock of sustainability, exemplified by the Tachikui village, which allows visitors to explore the studios, participate in short workshops, and purchase works directly from the artisans. This mechanism distributes income to households and incentivizes the younger generation to inherit the trade.

Nan can draw parallels with its clusters of silversmiths, textile weavers, ceramicists, and woodworkers to design an interconnected "artisan community route." This network would allow schools, universities, and tourists to participate through clear Learn, Make, Take Home packages. Furthermore, this model city offered tangible policy lessons gleaned from UCCNs Monitoring Reports, which detail the actual activities of member cities, from initiating joint projects to hosting the Crafts & Folk Art cluster. This data can immediately be converted into a monitoring framework for Nan, including setting indicators for participant numbers, community income, the proportion of youth and women in the value chain, and the environmental quality and safety of demonstration areas.Ultimately, Tamba's strength lies in its regional storytelling and its connection to major cities in the Kansai regionKyoto and Osakabroadening the reach of local crafts to a wider audience and market. Nan can leverage this idea into a Lanna-Nan Craft Route by collaborating with neighboring provinces, creating learning-based tourism packages that merge art, way of life, and landscape into a singular experience. This study visit was therefore not just about seeing, but about bringing back and implementing to elevate Nans systemfrom its creative tourism routes to its policy mechanisms and performance indicatorsto align with global standards through a shared direction involving the Nan government, community, and private educational sectors.