Yamagata Butsudan

Warm wood, rich gold

A butsudan is the Buddhist altar cabinet kept in Japanese homes. Yamagata altars face their fronts with zelkova or sen grain boards, lacquered so the grain shows through for a warm look. Inside, the kuden shrine roof is built with stacked bracket work, metal fittings are blackened and engraved with gold arabesques, and carvings of coiled dragons and celestial beings add splendour. They are made in Yamagata, Tendo, Obanazawa and Sakata in Yamagata.

Seven processes

• The wooden body and the kuden inner shrine are made first.
• Carvings and metal fittings are made to fit their exact sizes.
• The altar is test-assembled, then lacquered.
• Maki-e and gold leaf are applied, and the fittings are mounted. Makers say gold leaf is harder to lay on flat surfaces than on carvings.

Safflower and Kyoto

In the mid-Edo period the safflower trade brought many people between Yamagata and Kyoto, and with them Kyoto's culture of making Buddhist altars. Craftsmen who had learned carving in Edo began carving transoms and Buddhist articles, then brought lacquerers, maki-e artists and metal smiths together to make whole altars. Splitting the work among specialists later made Yamagata the leading altar maker in Tohoku.