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Category: Kobayashi Katsuhisa

A Simple Tray, A Complex Tale of Progress vs. Tradition in Japan

By:
Ai Kanazawa
October 25, 2013Wood Research Kobayashi Katsuhisa

In the frenzy of industrialization and urbanization in Japan in the second half of the 20th Century, countless villages were sacrificed in the name of progress. Wagatani was one of these tiny hamlets nestled along the banks of the Daishoji River in Ishikawa Prefecture that was swallowed up by a dam in 1965. The village is remembered today through its distinctive style of tray called Wagata-bon.

Oval bowl by Hanako Nakazato on Wagata-style tray by Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Oval bowl by Hanako Nakazato on Wagata-style tray by Kobayashi Katsuhisa

Wagatani, which means ‘my valley’, was located above the famous healing waters of the Yamanaka hot springs, which to this day is a popular tourist destination in Japan. The village had been in existence since the medieval pre-Edo period and its inhabitants were mainly woodworkers that made shingles, which was the preferred material for roofs in the Kansai region.

Towards the end of the Edo period, one of the village woodworkers named Nakasuji Tasuke began to carve trays out of the scrap wood that was left over from the shingle-making process. The tray, called Wagata-bon or Tasuke-bon for its distinct style, is typically made of chestnut wood that was abundant around Wagatani. Its rim and bottom are carved out of a single piece of fresh, un-dried wood and there are vertical chisel marks left on the tray.

This style of trays appears to have been made by several woodworkers in the village and came in various sizes that depended on what scrap materials were available for use at the time. Very few of the original trays have been found outside the vicinity of Wagatani, so this suggests that they may have been locally bartered for food and daily necessities by the woodworkers.

Kuroda Tatsuaki (1904-1982), a renowned Japanese Mingei wood and lacquer artist was a collector of these humble trays. He viewed the trays to be a pure example of Mingei because of their unintentional and simple beauty rooted in the daily lives of the local people.

Kuroda sought to let the outside world know about Wagata-bon by writing about the trays in the September issue of Mingei-Techo in 1963, and encouraging the style to be revived by fellow artists. But just as Wagata-bon started to be recognized, the several dozen families that were still living in Wagatani began to move out ahead of the commissioning of the Wagatani Dam and the impending submergence of their village.

MikomiThe 1960s was an era that saw tremendous growth and prosperity in Japan, which led to considerable improvements in the living standards of a large majority of the Japanese people. But this progress came with a heavy cost to the environment, tradition, and culture. Many villages shared the same fate as Wagatani.

One little known fact is that Japan has more than 3000 large dams, which for a country that is smaller in size than California is a remarkable number. By comparison, the U.S. has 9200 large dams and Canada has a little more than 1000. After the feverish building of so many dams, the public started to question their actual utility and this led to an official review of dam building and other pork barrel public works projects in the 1990s.

Through the enduring efforts of woodworkers and Mingei supporters, a small part of Wagatani’s heritage has been preserved. As we look at the tray that woodworker Kobayashi Katsuhisa has faithfully recreated, we can reminisce about this village along the river in Ishikawa that supported the lives of many generations of woodworkers. Although the village is now gone, the soul of Wagatani village lives on in this unassuming wooden tray.

The Innovation of the Old: Shaker-Style Food Boxes From Kobayashi Katsuhisa

By:
Ai Kanazawa
March 25, 2013Wood Kobayashi Katsuhisa

Woodwork by Kobayashi Katsuhisa in our shop ->

There is a saying that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but that is not true when it comes to the craftsmanship of Kobayashi Katsuhisa. When I first came across his Shaker-style tea boxes at a craft show in Himeji in 2012, the first lightning bolt struck me. I had seen Shaker-style boxes in the past, but his extraordinary ability to create a traditional Japanese functional item in the mode of a Shaker box was electrifying.

Shaker-style tea boxes on carved tray by Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Shaker-style tea boxes on carved tray by Kobayashi Katsuhisa

The second time was when I saw his rendition of a Kiridame or a nesting box, with Shaker-style oval boxes. I was literally blown away by the exquisite design. Studio Kotokoto is honored to have the privilege of premiering Kobayashi-san’s kiridame for the first time in the U.S.

Shaker-style Kiridame & Jubako
Shaker-style nesting box and stacking box by Kobayashi Katsuhisa

Kiridame is an old Japanese kitchen utensil that is used in food preparation. It is a set of rectangular wooden trays used to store cut vegetables and other foods. Traditional kiridame came in sets of three, five, or seven trays. The ingenuity of kiridame is that the set of trays and lids are designed to nest in each other to save storage space when not in use.

Kiridame drawing
Ai’s attempt at drawing traditional Japanese kiridame or food preparation boxes

Kobayashi-san’s kiridame is comprised of 6 Shaker-style boxes. Each box can also be flipped over and used as a lid of a smaller size box, and they can all be nested together when not in use.

Kiridame 3 boxes
The box can be flipped to become a lid for the smaller sized box.

Jubako is a stacking box used to serve food. A conventional jubako is square and comes in stacks of two, three, or five. They are large enough to carry food for 4-6 people, so are ideal for families.

The top box of jubako has a groove on bottom to lock the box in place.
The top box of jubako has a groove on the bottom to lock the box into place.

Kobayashi-san’s Shaker-style jubako is smaller and perfectly suited for carrying food for one or two people such as for a picnic. Both kiridame and jubako are made of Japanese oak, with iron mordant base and wiped lacquer finish, which makes them watertight and food-safe.

These food boxes by Kobayashi-san are of classic design and solid functionality. If you are looking for something truly original to present food, these will be for you. There is nothing else comparable.

Kobayashi Katsuhisa: A Japanese Woodworker’s Homage to Shaker Design

By:
Ai Kanazawa
August 28, 2012Wood Kobayashi Katsuhisa

Woodwork by Kobayashi Katsuhisa in our shop ->

These beautiful Shaker-style tea boxes are made by Kobayashi Katsuhisa, a woodware and furniture maker from Okayama, Japan.

Shaker-style Tea Boxes in Oak, Red Cherry, and Walnut by Kobayashi Katsuhisa

I met Kobayashi-san at a craft show in Himeji in May. He has been making Shaker-style oval boxes for several years now, and feels that the Shaker design philosophy has truly helped to instill in him the importance of restraint in his creative process.

Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Photo Courtesy of Kobayashi Katsuhisa

The Shakers were the pioneering masters of simple and utilitarian design, which is the heart of mingei as mentioned in our previous blog post. The Shaker creations, including the oval boxes that were first made over 200 years ago, are the very embodiment of their famous tenet that “beauty rests on utility”.

Shaker-style Japanese Tea Set by Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Photo Courtesy of Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Shaker-style Tea Box with Inner Tight Fitting Lid Holding Nutmeg Seeds

Putting “beauty rests on utility” into practice is not easy. Kobayashi-san believes that perhaps the most important aspect that a woodworker needs is the ability to resist the temptation to be individualistic, which too often results in unnecessary form that serves no purpose. These simple yet comfortable chairs that he makes are models of utilitarian beauty.

Beautiful Chairs with Clean Utilitarian Design by Kobayashi Katsuhisa, Taken at Himeji Craft Show in May 2012

Making oval boxes requires much skill and patience. Kobayashi-san faithfully follows the Shaker design from the swallowtail fingers to the copper tacks securing the wood. To him, the Shaker oval box design is a perfect form that should not be altered.

Swallowtail Fingers
Photo Courtesy of Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Bending the Wood by Hand Around the Elliptical Form
Photo Courtesy of Kobayashi Katsuhisa
Securing the Bent Wood with Copper Tacks
Photo Courtesy of Kobayashi Katsuhisa

Meeting Kobayashi-san made me realize that a good design has no boundaries. It speaks a universal language that is understood throughout different generations and cultures on opposite sides of the world. In this sense, the Shaker design is a unique and extremely valuable American cultural treasure and heritage, whose spirit can even be found in the heart and workshop of a quiet and talented Japanese woodworker.

Kobayashi-san’s Shaker-style tea boxes are available at our shop.

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