Yosegi Beyond Boxes

Puzzle boxes are the most famous yosegi objects outside Japan, but the craft has always decorated many other things. From coasters and trays to chests of drawers, pens and even guitars, yosegi brings the colors of the Hakone forest into everyday life.

What the official listing names

Japan's traditional craft listing for Hakone Yosegi Zaiku gives its main products as household goods, dining and kitchen ware, bookshelves, small chests of drawers and personal accessories. It also describes the craft producing boxes, drawers, small chests, tea coasters and accessories.

Coasters

Coasters are among the most familiar yosegi items and among the oldest export products. Hakone Town's history records that around 1912 the production of coaster sets for export flourished. Today coasters are also the standard project in Hakone's hands-on classes, where visitors arrange and glue a few pieces of wood into their own pattern. See hands-on classes.

Trays

Hakone Town's history describes Ishikawa Nihei, credited with founding the craft, making trays and boxes from woods of different colors and grains. Trays remain a natural form for yosegi, showing a large, flat field of pattern.

Small chests and drawers

Small chests of drawers, sometimes only a few inches tall, are classic yosegi pieces, with patterned fronts and sides. The Japan Times illustrated its feature on Hakone yosegi with a small yosegi drawer. Larger karakuri tansu, trick chests with hidden or rotating drawers, combine furniture with the puzzle-box idea.

Jewelry boxes and containers

Web Japan notes that many visitors to Hakone buy containers for small items or jewelry boxes decorated with yosegi. These need not be puzzle boxes; many have ordinary lids or drawers and simply showcase the pattern.

Writing boxes and pen boxes

Hakone Town's timeline records that pen boxes covered in zuku veneer became popular around 1919. The national craft association describes a replica of a writing box cherished by the writer Kitamura Tokoku, displayed at the Honma Yosegi Museum, and Noboru Honma's own inkstone box, made after three years of training, which he still uses.

Cups, bowls and vases

The solid muku method allows three-dimensional objects. Web Japan describes muku cups whose pattern can be seen on the inner surface and single-flower vases with complex curves. The national ministry's text for Hatajuku also mentions lathe-turned cups and plates. See zuku and muku.

Pens, buttons and accessories

Modern makers are taking yosegi into new forms. Web Japan profiles Ken Ota of OTA MOKKO, who makes ballpoint pens, buttons and containers for small items so that people can use yosegi every day. Personal accessories are among the main products named in the official listing.

Picture frames, teapots and guitars

Web Japan lists yosegi-styled drawers, photo frames and teapots among everyday items, and shows a guitar decorated with yosegi as an example of the craft's range.

Shogi boards and special pieces

Craftspeople also make occasional showpieces. The national craft association describes a yosegi shogi board by Noboru Honma, who says he makes two or three unusual pieces each year, and the yosegi ceiling of his museum.

Trophies

A Hakone local guide notes that the trophy of the Hakone Ekiden university relay race is made from seamless yosegi, and that a model crafted at the same time as the real trophy has been displayed at the Hatajuku Yosegi Kaikan.

Toys and novelty items

Hakone Town lists train-shaped piggy banks among the items visitors can make at Hakone Maruyama Bussan's classes. Kumiki interlocking puzzles, invented in Odawara around 1897 according to the town's history, are another playful branch of local woodwork. See mokuzogan and kumiki.

Choosing everyday yosegi

For the table: coasters and trays. Wipe dry after use; never soak.
For the desk: pen boxes, small drawers, pens and card cases.
For display: muku vases, larger boxes and chests.
For a gift: a coaster set or small container is an easy introduction to the craft. See gifts.

The same principles apply to every piece: real yosegi shows natural wood grain in every shape, colors are undyed, and the finish should be cared for with a soft dry cloth. See the buying guide and care pages.

Buying everyday yosegi in Hakone

Workshops and shops in Hatajuku and Hakone-Yumoto carry far more than puzzle boxes. The Hatajuku Yosegi Kaikan introduces Hatajuku's shops and sells souvenirs, and Hamamatsuya's store sits above a workshop where you can see pieces being made. Browsing these shops is the easiest way to see the full range of everyday yosegi in one place. See visiting Hakone.

Sources

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