Attache Cases Infused with Kumiko Traditional Woodworking Technique

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:39 JST, February 16, 2025

MANIWA, Okayama — A furniture and fittings manufacturer in Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, has developed attache cases featuring a traditional woodworking technique in a project it hopes will drum up interest in the handcraft.

Sadakenbi Co. made the wooden cases using the kumiko technique, in which small pieces of wood are assembled to make patterns without the use of nails or adhesive. The cases are made from wood grown in Okayama Prefecture.

Sadakenbi hopes the cases will shine a spotlight on the prefecture’s local timber and that customers who carry these distinctive cases overseas will become walking advertisements promoting Japan’s traditional crafts.

According to the company, kumiko was developed during the Asuka period (592-710). The woodworking technique can create beautiful geometric and other patterns and has been widely employed in the interior decorations of shoin-style drawing rooms and the panels used as transoms above fusuma sliding panels or shoji sliding screens.

Sadakenbi President Tokinobu Sada and his employees spent about six months developing the cases.

“If we incorporate kumiko into the attache cases that travelers and businesspeople use, the technique could become known around the world,” Sada, 73, said.

The cases come in five different exterior designs, including cherry blossoms and hemp leaf patterns, and measure about 36.5 centimeters long, 47.5 centimeters wide and 10 centimeters high. The wood used includes hinoki Japanese cypress, cedar and big-leaf magnolia. The exterior features a square design that requires a superb level of skill to complete and is covered by an acrylic sheet to protect the woodwork.

The cases have LEDs, so they can be opened at night and used as a modern form of interior lighting with a Japanese flavor.

Each attache case costs ¥690,000.

“I hope these cases will not only showcase to people overseas the wonderful traditional craft of kumiko, which is used solely in Japan, but also open the door to kumiko being used in various ways around the world,” Sada said.