ABOUT US
Mission / Philosophy
Desire to cherish trees
We want to cherish the trees which grew over decades or centuries.
This is what Kenji Nakamura, the builder of Shiroitani Koubou, has been thinking throughout his career as a carpenter. The wood pieces that come from old houses’ ruins or construction sites are typically disposed of as industrial waste. Kenji saw this, and wished to find a way to reduce the waste of these precious trees by changing them into other shapes. That is when he encountered the wood chip mosaic technique.
Expressions of nature-made wood
Wood that is repurposed from old houses, where it has undergone tough weather with strong wind and snow for a long time, can develop unique textures compared to wood that is freshly cut. And if you cut this wood into small pieces, you can utilize the materials into the artwork without much waste.
At Shirotani KoboShiroitani Koubou, we embrace “imperfect” wood as well for our projects.
Because the knots or the insect holes, which resulted over time, can bring a richer and more distinctive look to the artworks.
Inherited skills
We make our products by hand, one by one, with designs based on our carpenters’ creative experience and available devices, as well as skills that are inherited over centuries.
INFORMATION
The name of our workshop comes from the district’s name “Shiroitani” (which means White Valley), where our workshop is located. It is part of an area called “Fukuzuka”, in the southern part of Nichinan town, with a population of 54 people in 20 houses. There, we use a building that was formerly a preschool as our workshop. We produce and sell accessories, utensils, and other items made with our signature wood chip mosaic technique.
1002-1 Fukuzuka, Nichinan-cho, Hino-gun, TOTTORI prefecture, Japan 689-5663 TEL. +81-859-83-0180
Shiroitani Koubou
sells accessories made from marquetry.
