Out of all of the many signboards one finds on the street today, from time to time, one may come across a carved wooden signboard with a richness to it not found in other signs. Signs that take after placards known as “hengaku” (the laterally-oriented signs that adorn gates and rooms) which draw their long history back to the Asuka period. Inheriting the traditions of the hengaku craftsman of the Edo period (1603-1867), these signs continue to be crafted by hand here in Taito ward, with the warmth and nostalgia that their material carries along with their natural appearance being re-examined in recent years, creating more demand for them.