Traditional craft
Kyo Sashimono
京指物
Kyoto's fine joinery, from paulownia chests and display shelves to tea utensils, finished to show the natural beauty of the grain.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 2 June 1976
- Type
- Wood and bamboo
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 京指物
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 京都市
Two kinds of sashimono
Kyo Sashimono has two branches: furnishing sashimono, fine Japanese furniture made from solid boards, and tea sashimono, turned, bent and board-built tea utensils in paulownia, cedar, mulberry, zelkova and other woods. Paulownia, which keeps out damp and resists heat, is its best-known material and a byword for fine storage. It is made in Kyoto as chests, display shelves and tea utensils.
The grain comes first
Wood is prepared with great care: paulownia is dried naturally for a long time and leached, and timber may be soaked in water or left in the wind for years so it will not warp. The basic finish keeps the beautiful grain: polishing, wax, tinted wax or rubbed lacquer. Decoration can add maki-e, lacquer painting, gold and silver leaf or sprinkled gold. Makers study each board to decide which part will look best where.
Grown with the tea ceremony
Kyo Sashimono goes back to the Heian period. From the Muromachi period specialist sashimono makers appeared, and the craft developed alongside the tea ceremony as it took shape in Kyoto.
Good to know
- Compare it with Edo Sashimono: Kyoto's grew with the court and tea, Edo's with samurai and merchants.
- Tea boxes and incense containers are often shaped to suit the grain of each board, so each is unique.
Questions travellers ask
What woods are used?
Paulownia, cedar, hinoki, mulberry, zelkova, cherry and many others; paulownia is the signature.
Why is paulownia prized for storage?
It keeps out moisture and resists heat, protecting what is stored inside.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- 800 years of Japanese tea in Uji and southern Kyoto
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Lake Biwa Canal: the waterway of hope from Otsu to Kyoto
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tango chirimen: 300 years of silk on Kyoto's north coast
- Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo and Maizuru: Japan's naval port cities
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.