Edo Sashimono [ Wood Joinery ]

Watanabe Akira

During the period of high economic growth in Japan, as well as the spread of wedding furniture to general households, this was the time when affordable items such as tissue cases, dustbin etc., were sold well, but recently, large furniture make up 90% of the orders.

“Accessories such as tissue cases are just right as items to be made by apprentices, but since the demand is reduced, and there is nothing that apprentices can make, making it difficult to train new craftsmen”, said Akira Watanabe, one of the few Edo Sashimono craftsman that still lives today. While it takes time to acquire the skills of Sashimono, the lack of craftsmen is getting serious, and the condition is becoming worse than ever.

Watanabe has about 30 years of experience. Since he was a child, he was experienced the craftsmen of various professions in the neighborhood, making him more interested in Sashimono which is also his family business, and since he loved his hometown too, he decided to succeed in the family business.

The Sashimono work is putting wood together to make works such as chests or drawers, but as the dimensions of the wood to be fitted must be very accurate, the air tightness increases and a high-quality work has been produced, so when closing such drawers, a phenomenon that another drawer opens by itself occurs. When Mr. Watanabe exhibited his own work at the general exhibition of Japanese culture held in Chicago, USA, the foreigners also noticed the strange phenomenon of the drawers that opened by itself, they said “Japanese are so skillful!”, and were pleased. With advance reservation, you can also take part in a workshop experience, starting at 2,000 yen and with capacity up to 6 people. Foreigners that can understand Japanese are also able to take part.