SEND Hiroshima – The DIY Candle Workshop

Handmade Botanical Candle-Maker in Hiroshima

Crafty travelers, take home a work of botanical art made by yourself. SEND Hiroshima is a handmade botanical candle workshop near Hondori where visitors can create their own scented candles decorated with preserved flowers. 

With the assistance of written English guides, makers get one-on-one help from instructors who make the process clear and straightforward despite the language barrier. The resulting hand-crafted candle is a popular choice for gifts or displaying in the home.

A look inside the wax luminaries, “Botanical Lanterns,” reveals that you can see the flowers inside and out plus the glass candle holder for the tea-light. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

Why SEND Stands Out

There are a few other candle-making workshops in Hiroshima, but SEND is by far the largest, best equipped and most renowned. Plus, having a permanent location in the center of the city in a facility dedicated to nothing but botanical candles makes SEND the most accessible candle-worshop in the city.

Crafts with Dried Botanicals, Fragrance Oils and Wax

Artistically situated somewhere between ikebana and candle-making, all their candles are one-of-a-kind works of art and made in-store with their own resources. When entering the shop, one is met by islands of wooden crates bursting with rainbows of fragrant botanicals and shelves with beautiful examples of what you could make. Would-be chandlers have access to over 100 types of preserved flowers from those boxes and 50 fragrance oils. These oils are different from essential oils. They have been specially formulated to be less volatile so that the candles keep their scent for as long as possible. 

SEND Hiroshima has over 100 varieties of preserved botanicals to decorate your candle with. Pictured here is a variety of tiny wild-flowers. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

 Local Reputation for Excellence

Every year SEND helps around 8,000 people make candles. They have been featured on local television 11 times since 2022. And in 2023, the shop was awarded first place in the Arts & Crafts category for the Chugoku and Shikoku regions by Jalan, a popular Japanese travel booking site.  

Plan Your Workshop

SEND offers a range of candle workshop packages and reservation times.

Over 10 Candle-making Workshops

Depending on what you want to make, there are a variety of candle workshops to choose from: 

• full and half-sized round candles, 
• marbled candles, 
• cube and ball-shaped candles, 
• candles molded into cute figurines, 
• candles made out of soy-wax, 
• metallic candles with wooden wicks, 
• even holographic candles made with clear gel. 

The candles take one to two hours to complete and cost between ¥1980 and ¥3,850 depending on the size and materials—with most candles costing ¥3,300.

Not all of the candles you can make at SEND are floral. This is the “Nuance Candle Set.” It includes a wooden wick that sounds like burning wood when lit and a candle holder decorated with iron paint. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

Reservations Recommended

You can come in at any time between 10:00 and 18:00 seven days a week to buy candles, all of which are pre-made in-shop by their staff. However, if you want to make your own, they recommend making a reservation to ensure you get a spot. Walk-in spots are sometimes available, but they are unpredictable.

Crafters Young & Old

People accompanying small children should also be aware that the process uses hot, melted wax. Because of this, SEND does not allow children under the age of 10 to make candle figurines, as they could burn their fingers. However, children as young as three can make other styles of candles if accompanied by an adult. 

Children 10 and over—with care not to burn themselves on the hot wax— can make wax dolls. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

How to Make a Reservation

SEND can accommodate groups of up to 12 people at their crafting bar at four time slots: 10:30, 13:00, 15:30 and 18:00. Appointments can be made through their website. They have various forms linked to their Candle Workshop Menu. The menu, however, is only in Japanese and does not display properly when sent through Google Translate’s website translation feature. 

Translation Tip: Use Google Lens

The simplest way to navigate the menu on a computer is to use Google Translate’s active translation feature through your smart-phone’s camera. If you only have your smart phone with you, taking screenshots and uploading them to the app is another option. 

Getting There

Close-up of the storefront of SEND Hiroshima. The posters advertise what you can make. At the time this photo was taken, a note on one poster explained that walk-in workshops were available that day. However, this is unpredictable so they encourage people to make a reservation. (Joy Photo / Michael Farrell)

SEND is centrally located in Hiroshima City, positioned between multiple public transportation options. For visitors arriving from Hiroshima Station, the easiest route is to take the Hiroden Streetcar to Tatemachi Station. Any streetcar line will do. They all pass this station before they diverge further down the line. From Tatemachi station, walk south for about five minutes and eight intersections. At the fourth intersection, you’ll have to make a right. Walk to the next intersection and turn left. Keep walking south three intersections. SEND Hiroshima is located on the corner of an intersection in eyeshot of Fukuromachi Park. 

Explore More Hiroshima Crafts

If you want to try more crafts around the city, consider learning how to cook your own okonomiyaki at OKOSTA Okonomiyaki Cooking Studio, or try your hand at mizuhiki, the art of weaving colorful paper cords into intricate accessories.