Shogawa Hikimono Kiji

Wood with a changing face

Hikimono kiji are wooden pieces turned on a lathe: tea trays, saucers, sweets dishes, bowls, tea caddies and plates. Woods such as horse chestnut, zelkova, cherry and katsura each show their growth rings differently, and their deep colours bring out the grain. Many pieces become the base for lacquerware, but shiro-kiji, unfinished pieces, are sold bare and slowly change colour and gloss just from contact with air. It is officially designated as a traditional craft material. It is made in Tonami, Takaoka and Nanto in Toyama.

Dried twice, turned twice

• Sawn logs are stacked and air-dried for six months to a year.
• The wood is rough-turned on the lathe.
• It is kiln-dried until its moisture is down to 8 percent, then allowed to settle.
• It is finished on the lathe, using blades such as the karakasa-kanna that each craftsman makes by hand.

Timber down the river

At the end of the 16th century the Kaga domain began floating timber down the Shogawa river, and the logs gathered at yards in Shogawa town, a major timber hub for Hokuriku. In the late 19th century craftsmen set up lathe workshops there to use the plentiful wood. Today 34 companies make it one of Japan's leading areas for turned wood.