Kondo Kyoto Wooden Pail Workshop

With its characteristically plain design but refined finish, the Kyoto wooden pail is a common sight in traditional Kyoto life. Only wood with beautiful grain such as cedar, cypress and Japanese umbrella pine produced in Japan is used to make Kyoto wooden pail. With continued use over long years, the cedar wood will take on a deeper colour, while the bamboo hoop turns into a shiny amber colour, the silver an oxidized appearance and the copper a bronze colour. Before WWII there existed over 200 pail-making establishments in
Kyoto alone. However, the number has dwindled to only several today. The wooden
pails that were once used in the daily life are being replaced by plastic
buckets, thus increasing their artisanal appeal.