Tsuda Chokoku

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

Tsuda Chokoku produces and sells wood sculptures carved with the traditional technique of Ichii Ittobori. My brother and I are the owners of this shop. In order to preserve this technique, together with traditional works, such as netsuke or figures related to Buddhism and Japanese folklore or Japanese mask representations, we are also making modern items such as accessories or cute animals to meet the taste of younger customers.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐈𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢?

The name, Ichii Ittobori, comes from the name of the material used, Ichii(conifer) tree. Ittobori means that everything is carved from a single piece of wood.

𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛

To make ichii ittobori, as I said before, we use the ichii tree but, you cannot use young trees to carve. You need at least a 200 years old log to make a sculpture. It's getting harder to find good logs. When carving you only use the innermost part of the log (loot at the picture). If the tree is young it will be too small to be used, that is why we need older trees. Sometime the inside color of the log changes, for example there are white parts and dark parts. I like to design my works considering the log’s natural hues as well.
When carving, regardless of the size, even a small item can take a month or two. You have to pay attention to details. If you are going to carve a horse or a mouse, or something that everyone can easily imagine, you have to make something good because anyone knows how a horse or a mouse are shaped. Each carving has its own challenges.

𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Gradually, young people are looking for new things, so we are responding to it and making new items alongside traditional ones. We are also trying to implement classical themes into more modern works.

𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

We have many customers even from overseas. There are many repeat customers in particular. They often buy our items. I am happy that they come to visit Takayama and even if I can’t proper speak English I always try to communicate the best I can with them.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐲

They usually buy items that are exotic for them, things that they don’t have in their countries. For example, in Europe, there is the Ichii tree as well, but it is used differently so customers from Europe are curious about what we make with it.

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐚

I like Japanese Alps. Also, during summer Takayama is hot during the day, but there is fresh air in the morning and in the evening because we are near the mountains. I would like for our customers to experience this.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

We wear masks properly and be careful with social distancing. We’ll be waiting until it settled down and we hope we can meet our customers again.