Hakone, where is located about two hours away from Tokyo by train, is famous for yosegi marquetry, which is a term for describing wooden crafts made of shaved designed wood block, which in turn made with pieces of woods glued together forming decorative patterns. They are, therefore, not printed, although they are beautifully done as…
Month: September 2015
Hakone yosegizaiku marquetry round tray
Hakone is located in Kanagawa prefecture and it will take about 2 hours to get there from Tokyo. Hakone is surrounded by mountains and is also famous for onsen. Hakone is often associated with wooden products called Yosegizaiku, which means marquetry in English. The design used for the tray is called 麻の葉模様 (Asano-ha moyou), which…
Yosegi marquetry A4 wooden document case
Beautiful wooden A4 document shelf from Hokkaido, where is located in North of Japan. Asahukawa city is historically famous for wooden handcrafts, especially wooden furniture. They’ve been shifting their manufacturing items to smaller crafts such this smaller document shelf. The design somehow reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. The size is much larger than…
Wappa Bento box and rice container (Meshi-bitsu) from Hakata (博多曲げ物 / 博多の曲げわっぱ）
Wappa is a term for discribing wooden containers which are made with bent wood and fixed with cherry tree barks to put is together. That reminds me of shaker box, which is also oval simple shaped box. Bento boxes are very popular in Japan and many kids bring their own bento to the schools, so…
Composition serieas – Kaori Walsh
Kaori Walsh is a Japanese craftswoman who has been creating these beautiful porcelain in Japan. Her designs are all handwritten, so every products have their own uniqueness. These round plates come in three different sizes. She also makes mugs, square plates, cups etc. You can see the whole serieas at my store. MA by So…
Himitsubako (Secret box or puzzle box or trick box) (Hakone yosegi zaiku) 秘密箱
It is getting increasingly harder to get this kind of traditional himitsubako or secret box in Japan lately due to its popularlity and also the fact that the craftsmen who have been making the box is getting fewer lately. As for this himitsubako, the outer size is 15 x 9.8 x 6.5cm and the inner…
MA by So Shi Te 