The History of Woodworking in Tokushima

STORY

A town of shipwrights and a network of specialist workshops

At MORI KOUGEI in Suehiro, Tokushima City, we have long worked with wood veneer: selecting thin sheets of wood, arranging their grain, and making them into materials for furniture and buildings. This specialised work developed within Tokushima’s established woodworking industry.

Why did so many woodworkers gather in Tokushima, and how did dressing tables and Buddhist altars become major local products? Following that history leads us to seagoing ships and the neighbourhoods of craftspeople that grew east of the castle town.

The shipwrights who supported the naval force

The Itō district in eastern Tokushima City has long been known for woodworking. As the Hachisuka family governed Awa from 1585, the domain’s naval organisation took shape. Supporting a coastal domain required not only people to operate ships, but also people to build and repair them.[1]

According to the Tokushima Castle Museum, the naval base was initially in southeastern Jōsanjima and moved to eastern Fukushima around 1640. The present-day place name Atake comes from this naval force. Shipwrights had residences in Daikujima, to its south, now Yamatochō; an Edo-period map records 55 such residences. These place names preserve the memory of a community where shipbuilding was part of everyday life.[2]

Key dates in Tokushima’s woodworking history

Date	Event
Around 1640	The naval base moves from Jōsanjima to eastern Fukushima
1871	Following the abolition of the domains, shipwrights’ work expands into household goods and furniture
Around 1885	Dressing-table production is said to begin around Atake
1953	MORI KOUGEI is founded, applying veneer to dressing tables and Buddhist altars
1973	MORI KOUGEI introduces a hot press

Compiled from sources [2], [3] and [5]. This timeline places the region’s industrial history alongside the history of MORI KOUGEI.

From ships to objects for everyday life

An industry association’s account also traces the beginnings of woodworking to shipwrights making household objects from leftover timber. Following the abolition of the domains in 1871, their work expanded into household goods, furniture, doors and other fittings. Skills that had supported the domain’s ships found new uses in everyday life.[3]

Tokushima’s woodworking industry cannot, however, be explained as a single event in which all the shipwrights became dressing-table makers. The production of household goods, exchanges with other manufacturing centres, and changes in equipment and materials all contributed to the industry’s gradual development.

Dressing tables, Buddhist altars and the skills of finishing wood

Dressing-table production is said to have begun around Atake in about 1885. During Japan’s postwar period of rapid economic growth, furniture bought at marriage, including dressing tables, became widespread and formed an important part of Tokushima’s woodworking industry.[3]

Buddhist altar making also developed through a separate connection with Osaka. Accounts describe small Buddhist shrine cabinets made in Tokushima being sent to Osaka in the middle of the Meiji period, and craftspeople learning karaki hardwood altar making and decorative woodwork there during the Taishō period. Production developed from the early Shōwa years into the postwar era, making Tokushima a major centre for karaki Buddhist altars. Finishes that show the wood grain are one of their distinguishing features.[4]

Making furniture and Buddhist altars required more than accurately assembling a form. Matching grain, shaping curved surfaces and applying a finish each called for specialist skills.

The veneering work carried on at MORI KOUGEI

MORI KOUGEI was founded in 1953. Its founder, Masaichi Mori, applied wood veneer to assembled dressing tables and Buddhist altars.

The region’s division of labour helps explain how this work was organised. Kiji-ya made the wooden forms, hari-ya applied the veneer, and tosō-ya carried out the finishing. Different specialists contributed to a single product. Within this network, MORI KOUGEI developed its skills in applying wood veneer.

Make the wooden form → Apply the veneer → Apply the finish

An outline of a typical division of labour at the time. The processes varied with the product and period.

Our work moved from ato-bari, applying veneer to assembled objects with animal glue and a small iron, towards processing veneered plywood following the introduction of a hot press in 1973. Methods and equipment have changed, but selecting grain and preparing materials for their intended use remain part of our work.[5]

As everyday life changes, so does the industry

Lifestyles have changed since the days when demand for furniture bought at marriage was strong. Tokushima City’s industrial materials describe the effects of changing lifestyles and competition from imported products, as well as a shift towards work such as custom furniture for buildings.[6]

Today, Tokushima has makers specialising in furniture, chairs, carving, yusan-bako outing boxes, building materials and other fields. Alongside veneered plywood for furniture, doors and other fittings, MORI KOUGEI develops its own products using its veneer-working skills.[7]

For us, Tokushima’s woodworking history is more than a record of products made in the past. It is also a history of finding ways to apply established skills to what people need next. Our present work is part of that continuing process.

When you look at the surface of a piece of furniture, take a moment to notice how the grain has been selected and joined. The work of the people who make the wooden form, apply the veneer and finish the surface comes together there. At MORI KOUGEI, our part is the veneering.

References

Read next: The History of Wood Veneer and How It Is Made