Woodworking

Japanese people’s lives have long been closely connected to wood—communing with wood, living in wooden houses and making tools out of wood. Woodworking is literally the craft of working with wood. And thanks to the many types of trees in Japan extending north and south and the four distinct seasons of the country, techniques seen almost nowhere else in the world advanced in areas of architecture, furniture, and utensils, and unique beauty came about.

Progress was seen in woodworking techniques in the Edo Era. With the advance of lumbering techniques, the types of wood used in chests and furnishings increased and distinctive features came about in individual production areas. The concept of precious wood thus came about and the value of woodworks increased.

Jodei Kobayashi (1753-1813) is a famous figure as an artisan of this era. He was a master craftsman fostered by Fumai Matsudaira, head of the Matsue Domain and a famous tea ceremony master. Jodei’s “Paulownia Sleeve Shoji Screen” stands out by the beauty of its openwork engraving. The techniques used to make such a work in an era without jigsaws remain veiled in mystery. 

Kihachi Kiuchi (1827-1902) and Soichiro Nishimura (1846-1914) were active in the Meiji and Taishio eras. Kihachi Kiuchi was proficient at joined block construction and inlaying, making mokuga (marquetry) wood decorations the family business. Hanko Kiuchi (1855-1933) learned sashimono and ivory work from his grandfather, Kihachi, and Hanko’s son Shoko (1882-1961) inherited their techniques and earned praise at exhibitions in various countries. Soichiro Nishimura learned wood inlay craft from Jizaemon Hasegawa and exhibited many works in Japan and abroad, earning various awards. 

Somei Maeda (1871-1942) could be called the father of modern Japanese woodworking. The mulberry double-sided bookshelf that Somei exhibited at the Fourth Domestic Industrial Exposition (1895) held in Kyoto was provided to the Imperial Household Agency. He set out on his own and set up a workshop in Minami-Kabayacho of Tokyo’s Nihombashi.

Shosoin imperial treasures such as “Red-Lacquered Keyaki Cabinet with Fine-Grain Pattern” and “Coromandel Double-Dided Cabinet” are all tucked away safely in chests. It was Sogetsu Maeda who used Mikurajima mulberry to make those cabinets and increased their value. That spirit was inherited by his apprentices Suda Sogetsu, Sogetu’s son Sosui (1910-79), and Kenji Suda (1954-) who became a living national treasure for woodworking in 2014.

Sosui Suda was present at the production of this cabinet by son Kenji, despite illness in his final years. The diverse metalwork of fittings comes together in the amazing craft of Kenji, who struck out on his own after studying under Katsuzo Mori and Kokichi Takanashi.

The lumber industry that supported Edo sashimono started with tradesmen employed in the construction of Edo Castle coming to have shops in Zaimoku-cho of Tokyo’s Nihomboshi. The skyrocketing of land prices in modern Tokyo did not allow room for lumber merchants to have property there to dry and store lumber for a long time after procuring. For such reasons, Kenji Suda’s workshop is located in Kanra Town of Gunma Prefecture. Lumber is slowly dried naturally in a warehouse and reborn as works of art by his hands when matured. 

This masterpiece of sashimono can be called the culmination of Japan’s crafts. Each process and technique came into being over a long history. Japan’s woodworking takes various forms according to its use, becoming a part of people’s lives. Woodworking has a power from using trees, a symbol of productiveness. And by feeling that, new power held by life can be gained.