HIDA | A Woodwork Tradition in the Making

This is an illustration by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), a Japanese artist best known as a woodblock printmaker during the Edo period (1615–1868). Born to an artisan family in present-day Tokyo, he began painting at a young age and became an apprentice to a wood-carver as a teenager. This series of woodblock prints, in which Hokusai captured perspectives of Mt. Fuji from various vantage points, was produced just as domestic travel was becoming popular in Japan. As in this work, his prints often captured glimpses of everyday life in the Edo period Japan. His most famous work is “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”

The diverse tree species and high-quality timber have nurtured a woodworking culture for 1,300 years in the Hida region.

During the Nara Period (AD 710–784), 1300 years ago, government officials recognized the exceptional skill of the wood craftsmen in the Hida region. The region was offered a unique opportunity to provide 100 craftsmen each year, in place of taxation to create shrines, temples, and contribute work to the royal palace and other buildings related to government.
This relationship became known as the “Hida no takumi” system. In general, it was the second, or third, son from a woodworking family that was chosen to go to the capital at Nara to build temples and shrines for a year. As their reputation grew, the craftsmen from Hida were placed in supervisory roles at many construction sites. The Hida no takumi system came to an end during the Heian period (AD 794-1185) when the capital moved to Kyoto.
Over the 500 years the system was in place, 40,000 workers were sent to the capital from the Hida region.

Once upon a time, there were two incomparable master craftsmen who were well-known for their competition: Kawanari, a master painter, and Takumi, a master carpenter.One day, Takumi built a four-sided temple and invited Kawanari to his house to see him and paint on his walls. When Kawanari went to the house, he encountered a very interesting small hall, in which all four doors – one each to the north, south, east and west – were open. Invited by the master carpenter to look inside, Kawanari went up to the porch and tried to enter. However, each time he approached a door, it would close quickly, only to re-open as he arrived at the next door just as it closed. After going around and around and trying to enter many times, Kawanari finally gave up. Seeing this, Takumi laughed terribly, and Kawanari went home frustrated.

A few days later, it was master painter Kawanari’s turn to invite the master carpenter to his house. Takumi knew this was to be revenge for the previous day’s experience but was so persistently and politely summoned that he finally decided to go.

Arriving at the master painter Kawanari’s house, Takumi opened the door from the corridor to find a large, blackened corpse lying in the room and the odor of decay filling his nostrils. Takumi screamed and jumped out of the room where Kawanari remained, laughing terribly at Takumi’s shrill escape. Takumi was terrified and stood in the garden, where Kawanari came out to find him and explain that what he saw was actually only a picture of a dead man drawn on the screen.

A key characteristic is the harmony between the unique clear lacquer and the beauty of the natural wood grain. Initially, the technique was used in refined trays, containers, and tools such as those used for tea ceremonies, but gradually its application expanded to everyday items such as chopsticks and bowls.

Hida Shunkei Lacquerware is recognized as one of Japan’s nationally certified traditional handcrafts.

After World War II, Sori designed a wide range of products: furniture, three-wheeled vehicles, Olympic cauldrons, pedestrian overpasses, and more. One of his most famous pieces of furniture is the Butterfly Stool, which won gold prizes at the Milan Triennial XI, in 1957. His works are included in the collections of MOMA, New York, the Rubell Museum, Miami, and others. Most of Sori's designs are elegantly simple. Sori Yanagi passed away in 2011 at the age of 96.

About the Sori Yanagi armchair featured in the HIDA exhibition:
Sori designed this chair and began initial production with several companies in 1978. However, the extended arms which connect, becoming the chair back, were complicated to create from a single piece of wood. Early fabricators attempted to realize this one piece by combining three pieces of wood. This process proved uneconomical for mass production, and the design was shelved.

In 1990, Sori made another attempt to create this chair, this time with a bentwood furniture company. However, again it involved too much time and hand-labor to realize a marketable final product, and they moved away from the design.

In 2005, while Hida Sangyo was exhibiting Italian Designer, Enzo Mari in Tokyo, Mari brought Sori Yanagi and Hida Sangyo Co., Ltd. together. After this meeting, Sori decided to make one last attempt to create his chair with Hida Sangyo Co., Ltd. Design work started Feb of 2006. The chair and fabrication process were ultimately finalized in 2010 using the company’s proprietary wood bending and compression technology. Sori eventually designed a table to go with the chair. Both the chair and table continue to be high demand products for Hida Sangyo Co Ltd.