Kôki line
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Although each piece of Kôki furniture has been designed as a stand-alone, it can be mixed with other style furniture in a same room, as the Japanese style is cross-border and searching for asymetry and subtle contrasts. Pure and refined, Kôki line represents the Japanese spirit. The colour-lacquered tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose particularly fit well modern interiors.
Kôki line tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose have been hand crafted by TôhokuTôhoku
Region in the North of Japan, birthplace of tansu crafting craftsmen (mostly around SendaiSendai
City: Sendai, prefecture: Miyagi, region: Tôhoku, the tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose capital) with the greatest care, to preserve the Japanese furniture making tradition. You can choose your furniture among the available models (already imported), or you can order your customized tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose: dimensions, features (drawers, pivoting doors, sliding doors, shelves, etc.), lacquer finish, colour. Upon your inquiry, we will let you know the price and the lead time.
Our Kôki line tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose are already in the history: the keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods which is used is several centuries old; the urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English lacquer preparation has taken several years; even the furniture making has taken several months. Patience is one of the Japanese values: you need to give time to your tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose before it enters your family for several generations...
Click below for details:
Wood species
Kôki line furniture is made of keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods (Japanese zelkova) and kirikiri
Paulownia, little density wood, often used in Japan for its good mechanical properties (paulownia tomentosa), the noblest woods in Japan.
The keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods wood used for our tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose is more than 100 years old (up to 500 years old for the most exclusive Kôki line tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose).
Our craftsmen combine keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods and kirikiri
Paulownia, little density wood, often used in Japan for its good mechanical properties woods to best use their respective mechanical characteristics: keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods for its beautiful growth rings and its surface hardness, and kirikiri
Paulownia, little density wood, often used in Japan for its good mechanical properties for its stability to temperature and humidity variations, as well as for its insecticide properties.
Furniture making
Our craftsmen have selected among the many Japanese wood joint techniques, the ones they prefer.
As for the design, they can choose among the hidden joints and the visible joints families, and can swap on the same tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose (for instance hidden joints for the exterior, and visible joints for the drawers' inside. Hidden joints are preferred for underlining the refinement, hiding the technical work and focusing on the design details (lacquer mirror effect, iron fittings, etc.) On the opposite, visible joints emphasize the craftsman skills. For instance, the many variations of dovetail joint, or the narrow wood plugs.
Lacquer
For our exclusive Kôki line tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose, our craftsmen are mostly using 3 natural finishes: the glossy lacquer, the wiped lacquer, and the cashew nutshell liquid.
The glossy lacquer (tsuya urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English): It is for sure the most exclusive representative of Japan finish. Often used in black or red colors on tableware, trays or boxes, it is also sometimes used on the most exclusive furniture.
Our craftsmen are offering a wide range of colors, at the same time original but in the tradition of Japanese colors (yellow, green, white, sakura-pinksakura-pink
Cherry flower). The glossy transparent caramel is another color in demand, as you get the double benefit of the mirror effect and the keyakikeyaki
Zelkova (Japanese elm), very dense wood, with beautiful wood grain, used in Japan for premium wooden goods wood grain slightly visible underneath the lacquer.
The Japanese traditional lacquer, is different from the many other lacquers in Asia, for its quality, its scarcity, and for the Japanese craftsmen's passion in getting such a flat and glossy surface.
For the Kôki line, it takes between 2 to 4 months for the craftsmen to complete one tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose, and about 10 coats of urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English, with a significant amount of polishing work between each. No doubt it is the most expensive finish.
The wiped lacquer (fuki urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English): As for the material, it is the same laquer as the one used for the glossy finish, but we are looking here for a more natural finish. It is a transparent brown finish showing the wood grain at the surface. It has been used for thousands of years to protect and decorate wood and other materials.
This is the finish which has been used on most antique tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose.
Whiped lacquer requires less coats and less polishing work than the glossy finish, resulting in a 30% less expensive tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose price.
The cashew nutshell liquid: Eventhough it is called hybrid urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English in Japan and advertised as urushiurushi
Traditional Japanese lacquer, also called "Japan" in English by some unscrupulous shops, it should not be confused with the traditional Japanese lacquer as it is not the sap of a lacquer tree, but is extracted from crushed cashew nut shells.
Eventhough not the original Japanese traditional finish, it is however of interest, as it offers a very close finish to the glossy lacquer, with the same choice of colors, but a competitive price (here also about 30% less) thanks to more availability of the raw material and a less delicate coating process.
Iron fittings / hardware
Iron fittings are one of the key features of a Japanese tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose. Not only because they differ from the ones used on furniture in other Asian countries. But also within Japan, each region has its own style. On our Kôki line, crafted in TôhokuTôhoku
Region in the North of Japan, birthplace of tansu crafting, iron fittings are rather imposing, but subtle at the same time, with a natural inspiration: flowers, birds, dragons...
Depending on the tansutansu
Japanese chest, generally speaking piece of furniture for a storage purpose, they can be made of steel or brass, by forge, die cast, stamping or hand-cut and carved.
