The Soft Light of Washi and Woodcraft Continuing since the Heian Period

Nakamura Sotoji Komuten is Japan's leading Sukiya architecture firm, having handled the Ise Jingu Tea Room and the Rockefeller Residence. The Sashimono (cabinetry) department of "Kohseki," which inherits those master skills, manufactures wooden products such as Japanese-style lighting using Kyo-sashimono techniques. Kyo-sashimono is a woodcraft continuing since the Heian period that properly uses the five techniques of Japanese woodworking: Mage-mono (bentwork), Taga-mono (buckets/barrels), Kuri-mono (hollowed work), Hiki-mono (turned work/lathe), and Sashimono (cabinetry). The lighting fixtures made of washi and wood, cultivated in Sukiya-zukuri with the proposition of being usable for a long time, are masterpieces with many long-time users.