Nagoya Kiri Tansu

Wider and grander

Nagoya Kiri Tansu are about 20 cm wider than chests from other areas, and the stepped nobori-dansu has a small drawer at the lower right. Fittings are coloured gold or silver, and the small cupboard doors are often painted in gold leaf or lacquer maki-e, so many pieces are lavish. They are made in Nagoya, Kasugai and nearby towns in Aichi, including chests for kimono, kosode and obi.

130 steps, one maker

• One craftsman carries out more than 130 steps: preparing timber, cutting, joinery, decoration and fittings.
• Solid paulownia boards are joined with traditional interlocking joints.
• The wood is polished with uzukuri, a brush of bundled grass roots.
• It is coloured with yashabushi liquid and tonoko powder, then finished with wax.

Builders of Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Kiri Tansu is said to have begun about 400 years ago, when craftsmen who had worked on Nagoya Castle settled in the castle town and made chests and storage trunks. After the Tokugawa unified Japan, life grew more stable, textile production boomed, and fine kimono reached ordinary people, who needed practical chests to store them. Nagoya was also close to Hida, home of some of Japan's best paulownia.