Craftsmen, Workshops and Guilds

Hakone yosegi is made by a community of family workshops, certified traditional craftspeople, cooperatives and independent artisans in Hakone and Odawara. This page introduces the institutions and some of the people whose work is documented by official and reputable sources.

The production area

Japan's traditional craft listing for Hakone Yosegi Zaiku names the main manufacturing area as Odawara City, Hakone Town and the Ashigarashimo District of Kanagawa Prefecture. The craft began in Hatajuku in the Hakone mountains, and Hatajuku still has workshops and shops along the old Tokaido road. Other makers work in and around Hakone-Yumoto and Odawara.

Cooperatives and associations

Hakone's woodworkers have organized for more than a century. Hakone Town's history records the founding of the Hakone Products Trade Association in 1909, its dissolution during the Second World War, and the formation of the Federation of Hakone Product Cooperatives in 1951. Today, the production area association listed by Japan Traditional Crafts Aoyama Square is the Odawara Hakone Traditional Marquetry Cooperative, with an address in Odawara.

The national body behind the designation system is the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries, which runs the Aoyama Square showroom in Tokyo and the Tradition Stamp used to mark designated products. See the buying guide.

Certified Traditional Craftsmen

Japan certifies craftspeople of particularly high skill as Traditional Craftsmen (dento kogeishi). Hakone Town's yosegi site describes them as people with particularly high skills recognized by the government who, even after certification, continue to study and take on challenges. Hamamatsuya, a Hatajuku workshop, notes that it is among the few places in the country where traditional craftsmen make its products.

Historic figures

  • Ishikawa Nihei of Hatajuku is credited with developing yosegi-zaiku in the late Edo period. The national ministry's interpretive text gives his dates as 1790 to 1850.
  • Myogaya Hataemon and Kanazashi Rokuzaemon of Hatajuku were among those who, according to Hakone Town, opened stores in Yokohama in 1859 after the ports opened.
  • Shirakawa Senseki of Yumoto-chaya created the current wood-inlay technique, mokuzogan, in 1892, according to the town's timeline.
  • Okawa Ryujiro of Yumoto invented the himitsu-bako, the secret box, in 1894, according to the town's timeline.
  • Yamanaka Tsunetaro of Odawara invented kumiki-zaiku, interlocking wooden puzzles, around 1897.

Workshops and makers you can visit or read about

Hamamatsuya (Hatajuku)

The national ministry's text describes Hamamatsuya as a workshop and store run by the descendants of Ishikawa Nihei, where visitors can see artisans at work and buy their wares. Hamamatsuya's own site describes a "visible workshop" on the second floor of its main store, where demonstrations of yosegi and wood inlay can be watched.

Honma Woodwork and the Honma Yosegi Museum (Yumoto)

Noboru Honma, born in 1931, started in the trade at 16 shortly after the war. In his profile for the national craft association, he describes realizing the artistic value of the pieces he collected and opening a yosegi museum, which is located close to Hakone-Yumoto Station. Hakone Town lists the Honma Yosegi Museum and Yosegi Shop at 84 Yumoto. The association notes that his son returned home to train in the craft.

Hakone Maruyama Bussan and the Hakone Karakuri Museum

The Japan News reported that Teruchika Maruyama, former president of the Hakone yosegi shop Hakone Maruyama Bussan, established the Hakone Karakuri Museum in 2013 across the street from the shop, and that his son Ichiro carries on the business. Hakone Town lists Hakone Maruyama Bussan among the places offering hands-on classes, including secret-box making.

Kanazashi Woodcraft

Hakone Town lists Kanazashi Woodcraft as offering a coaster-making class. The Japan Times has described Kanazashi's use of yosegi techniques to make awards.

Izumiya

Izumiya is a Hakone workshop and shop that makes puzzle boxes, publishes an English introduction to the himitsu-bako, and describes marking its new boxes with its own maker's mark.

OTA MOKKO

Web Japan profiles Ken Ota, representative of OTA MOKKO, who began training at a yosegi workshop in 2003 at the age of 24, became independent in 2012, and makes new patterns and everyday items such as ballpoint pens and buttons.

The Karakuri Creation Group

The Karakuri Creation Group is a guild of craftsmen in the Hakone and Odawara area who create karakuri boxes, trick boxes with original mechanisms based on the traditional secret box. Its first report, dated October 21, 1999, says the group began meeting on May 28 of that year, formed mainly of craftsmen from around Odawara, with Akio Kamei among those who suggested forming it.

The group's website says it currently has 12 karakuri box craftsmen, makes over 40 new karakuri boxes every year, and also produces traditional trick boxes under the group's name and books about karakuri boxes. Its listed activities include exhibitions at Matsuya Ginza in Tokyo, which it says have been held every year since 2006, starting the Karakuri Club in 2005, and helping organize the International Puzzle Meeting in 2010.

Akio Kamei, the group's leader, was born in Osaka in 1948, worked for Yamanaka Wooden Puzzles from 1972, established Karakuri Yasubei in 1981 to create original trick boxes, and became chairman of the group in 2011, according to his profile. Other craftsmen whose names or works appear on the group's site include Osamu Kasho, Hideaki Kawashima, Yasuaki Kikuchi, Hiroshi Iwahara, Fumio Tsuburai, Yoh Kakuda, Shou Sugimoto, Daiki Arimura, Taisho Iwasaki and Kotoya Hasebe. See karakuri trick boxes.

Passing on the craft

The craft faces the challenges common to traditional industries. Noboru Honma argues in his association profile that craftspeople must improve their margins and create a welcoming environment for successors, and that Hakone's position as a tourist destination, where the production area and the market meet, gives the craft a lasting advantage. Public facilities such as the Hatajuku Yosegi Kaikan, which Hakone Town established to preserve the techniques, and classes for schoolchildren and visitors help introduce new generations to the work.

Sources

Affiliate disclosure: Yosegi.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and may earn a commission when you buy through Amazon links on this site. The price you pay does not change.