Coffer of Elm Wood with Design in Marquetry

Tobetsu Town, where my studio is located, is an area famous for heavy snowfall in Hokkaido.
Using elm wood, which is a well-known wood in Hokkaido, I expressed the scene of morning sunlight shining on the powder snow that fell early in the morning.
I combined the trapezoidal elm wood parts cut in the same size to make the piece look three-dimensional and to express the sunlight shining on the snow.
I used Japanese elm for the marquetry, and jindai elm on the sides.

• Wood joinery

  In wood joinery (sashimono), wood boards are cut into panels with care to how the grain patterns will fit together in the final piece. The wooden panels are then cut or carved to create interlocking joints. These joints, which are the key feature of wood joinery, make it possible to connect boards at right angles to produce boxes and other articles. Wood joinery is assembled without the use of nails or any other metal hardware.

• Mokuga wood decoration

  Mokuga (“wood picture”) is a decorative technique in which slices of wood several millimeters thick are cut into geometric pieces such as rectangles or triangles and then attached to the surface of an object to create a design. Complicated works may use over one thousand small parts, carefully arranged with attention to the alignment of the grain.