The following article was published in the Akita Sakigake Shimpo on July 20, 2024.
Tomioka Shoten (President Koki Tomioka), a manufacturer and seller of Kaba-Zaiku (wild cherry bark) in Semboku City, Akita Prefecture, has commercialized interior panels using unused wild cherry bark. The products produced in collaboration with overseas designers, have been well received for the various textures of the bark President Tomioka says, "We want to convey a new charm of Kaba-zaiku and make effective use of unused wood that would otherwise have nowhere to go"
There are nine types of interior panels, including square and hexagonal, and they can be used in combination. By using unused wood, each with a different texture, the natural texture and roughness of the bark are expressed. The price range is 200,000~300,000 yen per square meter.
According to the company, the procurement of materials for Kaba-zaiku is hard work. They must drive more than three hours each way to a mountain forest in Iwate Prefecture and climb a wild cherry tree in order to collect bark. However, due to their physical strength, their time is limited to only two to three hours. The bark can only be collected from the trunk from the end of the rainy season to the beginning of September, so the collection season is limited as well.
On the other hand, the preferred material for Kaba-zaiku, which has a clear grain, is not too thick, and has an amber luster when polished. As a result, some of the collected bark was not used, and some parts were founded not suitable in the manufacturing process of products such as tea caddys. President Tomioka said that unused materials were piling up in the warehouse, and he had been looking for ways to utilize them.
In September of last year, Mr. Mauricio Clavelo Kozlovski, a designer living in France, suggested that Kaba-zaiku can be incorporated into interior materials. President Tomioka began a full-scale overseas expansion after domestic sales fell due to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. He has been in communication with Mr. Kozlovsky continuously since they met each other during his 12 years of market research in France.
Mr. Kozlovsky toured the samurai residences in Semboku City in August last year and expanded his image for the development of new products. The following month, he handed over a proposal for interior panels to President Tomioka, who was visiting France for market research. "I was moved by the natural expression of Kaba-zaiku on man-made structure, and I felt that it was perfect for the use of unused wood," says President Tomioka. After that, Tomioka Shoten completed the interior panel based on the proposal.
It has been decided that the interior panels will be used to decorate European brand stores that will open in Tokyo. President Tomioka says, "We want to have people from overseas use it in their homes and spread the charm of Kaba-zaiku to the world."
For inquiries about interior panels, please contact
Tomioka Shoten: TEL 0187-56-3239