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HIDA DESIGN FURNITURE FROM JAPAN
 History
of HIDA
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HISTORY
OF THE CULTURE OF HIDA THAT TRAINED AND POLISHED THE SKILLS OF CARPENTERS |
From the olden days, the Country of Hida has been
called "Ono" or the "great fields." The "fields"
are slopes of high mountains, which is exactly how the geography of
Hida is. It is surrounded by mountains on all four sides. From the
ancient times, the Country of Hida and Kyoto, the ancient capital
of Japan, has been connected by the imperial road. The road started
from the capital and went through the Gate of Fuwa, and through Kokubu
of Mino to Country of Hida. The carpenters of Hida were "drafted"
so-to-speak to work in Kyoto and they went by this road. Under the
legal rules of the Nara and Heian periods, 50,000 or so carpenters
of Hida worked in Kyoto and, through their work, lumbering, lumber
transport, and building technologies of high-level were cultivated.
This led to the creation of the tradition of carpentry in Hida.
It was in Tensho Period, after the Heian Period, when the beautifully
lined streets of Takayama were built, which still remain today. The
town building in Takayama as a castle town began when, in 1588, Nagachika
Kanamori began building Takayama Castle. Nagachika was the first generation
Kanamori clan that ruled Hida. The Kanamori Clan actively developed
the imperial road from Hida to Suwa. This highway in time became Edo
Highway that went through the Country of Kai to Kamakura. At the end
of 17th century, when Kanamori Clan moved to Country of Dewa, the
Country of Hida became the territory directly governed by the Shogunite.
The highway became the trunk road and then culture of Edo flowed into
Hida.
Currently, Takayama of Hida is frequented by sightseers from in and
out of Japan and the beautiful town still conveys the flavor of popular
culture of Edo and Taikayama remains as a sightseeing location with
rich nature and hot springs and skiing resorts. We can still find
the tradition of carpenters, which was left by the carpenters of Hida,
in the floats that come out in the Takayama Festival in spring and
in autumn and in the lined streets of Takayama. |
From the ancient times, Takayama of Hida has had
deep relationship with wood. In the ancient time, the town was designated
as a special district and it was made exempt of tax. Instead, people
of Takayama were to send carpenters to Kyoto, then capital. It was
said that total of about 50,000 carpenters went to Kyoto from the
ancient times through the Heian Period. They were engaged in building
of the palace, temples, and Todaiji Temple.
In the Edo Period, during six generations of rules of Kanamori clan,
culture in Kyoto was introduced in the area. During Genroku era, Hida
was designated as "Shogunite teritory" which was directly
governed by the Edo government. This caused the Edo culture to flow
in. The carpenters of Hida adopted two cultures of Kyoto and Edo and
polished them. In the end, they developed their own "culture
and art of woodwork." During the time, carpenters of Hida worked
on "Hida chest of drawers" as work in winter time. During
Meiji and Taisho periods, the drawer making reached its peak, which
built the foundation for furniture production in Hida. Toward the
middle of Taisho period, the carpenters had ideas for making use of
beech trees which comprise about 70 percent of the trees in the region.
They began to produce western furniture with curvature. After the
W.W. II, the furniture produced in the style received high evaluation
in the United States, where much of that type of furniture has been
produced.
Thus, from the climate of carpentry of 1000 years of tradition, country
furniture, modern furniture, craft furniture and "Hida design"
furniture was born, which is currently being transmitted to the world
over. The genealogy of furniture making in Hida is still taking new
steps toward future, leading living space making of the future. |
TOP 
Hida Woodworking Federation
5-1, Tenman-cho, Takayama-City, Gifu Pref. 506-8678
TEL : 81-0577-32-2100 FAX : 81-0577-34-5379
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