6 Things You Should Know About Japanese Tansu Chests

by Anne Walther | LIFESTYLE

© Kiri Tansu Saisei Kobo, Renovated Tansu

For those with the good taste to find them, Japanese tansu chests take pride of place in houses in Japan and across the world. Formerly intended as a portable chest of drawers, these versatile and elegant items of Japanese furniture are a testament to the ingenuity of Japanese joinery, usually made without nails or screws. But what exactly are tansu, how are they made, and how can you use them? Let’s open the doors of the world of tansu!

Contents

1. What Are Tansu?
2. History of Tansu
3. How are Tansu Made?
4. What are the Different Types of Tansu?
5. Where Are Tansu Made?
6. How to Enjoy Tansu at Home?

1. What Are Tansu?

Tansu are traditional portable storage chests from Japan. In Japanese traditional houses, there were no fixed chairs, tables, or pieces of furniture in the living space. Tansu were intended as mobile cabinetry, and used to keep objects of daily use, clothes, and personal items. They were also frequently employed by shopkeepers to store inventory, records, or valuables, as well as in warehouses, and even on ships for the personal use of the captain or owner.

The word tansu (箪笥), first recorded at the end of 17th century, is made up of two characters embodying two different functions: food storage and carrying firewood. Notable at the top of both characters is the radical for bamboo.

2. History of Tansu

An early example of joinery cabinet, dating back to 673, is kept in Nara in the Shoso-in, an imperial warehouse inside the premises of the Todai-ji temple. The proportions and design of this ancient object augur the golden age of tansu during the 17th century.

On March 2nd, 1657, a fire broke out at the Honmyo-ji temple in the Hongo district of Edo (the former city of Tokyo). In his diary, a trade mission commanding officer from the Dutch East India Company recalls “crowds of panic-stricken refugees, many trying to carry their belongings in big chests on four wheels. (…) Those who were empty-handed climbed over the chests (…).” We can thus imagine that the above-mentioned containers were the first examples of tansu.

Rather functional than decorative, tansu production may be divided into two eras, linked to Japanese history: the Edo period (1603-1868) and the Meiji period (1868-1912).

Woodblock Print by Torii Kiyomasu, early 18th Century

Antique chests from the feudal Edo period reflect the class, socio-economical degree, and work of the owner. During this era, the shogun wanted to control his subjects in an extremely strict way. Consequently, tansu owners were extremely vigilant with personal matters and avoided attracting attention. Tansu were mainly designed to suit their content.

During the Meiji period, the rigid class structure disappeared, and various local characteristics appeared. The production of individual and traditional craftsmen increased. New tansu designs were created.

On September 1st, 1923, a strong earthquake and fire destroyed much of Tokyo and Yokohama. Tansu makers from the Kansai area consequently filled the need for “mass produced” and manufactured cabinetry.

3. How Are Tansu Made?

Tansu craftsmen, named tansuya, made a difference between Japanese primary (i.e., superior) wood, which would be used for the exposed face of the tansu chest, and secondary woods. Primary woods include Japanese chestnut, cypress, elm, and paulownia. Secondary woods were mainly Japanese cedar and paulownia.

Due to their hardness, Japanese chestnut and elm were favored for doors and drawers, while Japanese cedar, cypress and paulownia were preferred for cases and interiors. Veneers were used later during the twentieth century.

Tansu cabinets often have a dry or lacquered finish. For the former, clay or chalk powder was rubbed into the soft surface, then polished with a reed whisk, while for the latter, lacquer was either applied as a transparent varnish on wood or as a thick opaque coating.

Defined as flexibly jointed cabinets, these antique Japanese chests were designed to be transported using wheels, hardware handles or horizontal upper rails.

Tansu joinery tended not to include stiff dovetail joints, allowing the wood to flex when exposed to tension. To find out more, check out 7 Things You Need to Know About Japanese Joinery.

The size and proportions of tansu cabinets are defined by Japanese traditional house architecture. Their size was often a multiple of 30 centimeters (one shaku) and in specific proportions such as 1 : 1 : 0.5. So a tansu with a height of 3 shaku would have a width of 3 shaku and a depth of 1.5 shaku.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), iron hardware was hammered from ingots and chiseled, which was a difficult and expensive process, so metal was not often used to make Japanese furniture. During the Meiji era (1868-1912), iron sheet pressing was introduced allowing iron sheets to be made considerably thinner and cut with shears. This was much more economical and encouraged diversity in tansu designs.

There is a correlation between function and the position of hardware. Strategic placement of iron hardware insured structural strength. Functional metal strapping was intended to avoid flexing joints from opening or breaking during transport. Iron drawer locks, often adorned with auspicious symbols, were designed to keep drawers closed.

4. What are the Different Types of Tansu?

© Freer Gallery of Art, Miniature Tansu Chest

During the Edo Period (1603-1868) and later, tansu came to be associated to the objects they were made for: account books, medicinal herbs, swords, tea and so on.

For hyphenated with another word, the word tansu becomes dansu.

Cha-dansu (茶箪笥) are small chests containing ingredients and all the utensils to make tea.

Used by merchants on the choba (elevated platform area in a store), choba-dansu (帳場箪笥) were mainly utilized to store account books. They had various sizes and numerous compartments. The forward-facing wood and hardware were especially refined to give a qualitative feeling to the customer.

From the Edo period (1603-1868) into the Meiji period (1868-1912), funa-dansu (舟箪笥) or ship chests maintained a strong continuity in design. Used on merchant vessels on the Sea of Japan and on the Seto Inland Sea, they represent a high-level craftmanship in hardware and joinery.

With the unification of Japan from 1603 under the Tokugawa shogun, merchants were urged to supply raw materials and food to Edo (now Tokyo). Several strong reforms in coastal navigation ordered by the shogunate led to the construction of smaller vessels. Tansu were placed in the captain’s or ship owner’s cabin, who were trade agents as well. Consequently, their tansu had to be sophisticated and lightweight, as it was often carried to their business partners. All the visible sides were made of Japanese elm.

© Heineken, Ty & Kiyoko / Creative Commons, Kakesuzuri Tansu

There are three main types of funa-dansu: kakesuzuri, money and seals chests with a single hinged door and numerous compartments or drawers; hangai, clothing trunks that could be stacked; and cho bako, accounting and records containers.

Isho-dansu were clothing chests covered with glossy lacquer and adorned with iron hardware.

Often perceived in the West as decorative antiques, kaidan-dansu (階段箪笥) comprised drawers and doors. Their construction as step chests is highly recognizable, and they were design to be moved if needed. In the Tohoku region, kaidan-dansu were occasionally used in farmsteads for attic access, where people took temporary care of silkworms.

Meant as cupboards for women’s clothing from the merchant class, kasane-dansu features a chest-in-chest double door system and two sections.

Katana-dansu (刀箪笥) were cabinets with long drawers for storing swords. Often employed by blade polishers, they were made of paulownia for two reasons. Firstly, its lightweight structure made it easier to transport from one customer to another. Secondly, this type of wood prevented damage from moisture and oxidization.

As the oldest category of tansu documented in literature in 1657, kuruma-dansu were carried on wheels, they can still be seen nowadays in the antiques collection of Japanese merchant families.

Kusuri-dansu (薬箪笥) were apothecary chests with numerous small drawers for medicinal herbs. They were often made of paulownia, a lightweight wood allowing them to be easily carried.

5. Where Are Tansu Made?

Since the middle of the Edo period (1603-1868), the town of Hikone, on Lake Biwa, has been producing mizuya-dansu. These kitchen chests had two sections and a chest-in-chest design. Often copied, these containers were important for home storage. They were frequently made of lacquered Japanese cypress and comprised copper hardware rather than iron parts.

Kyoto isho-dansu were known for tama nuri, an elegant and opaque lacquered process. These tansu were often adorned by Wajima craftsmen with flowers and auspicious patterns.

Shima-dansu from Sado were among the finest examples of tansu craftsmanship. Based on funa-dansu (ship cabinets), they featured thick iron hardware and unique diamond-shaped handles.

Choba-dansu (merchant chests), from Sakai tend to contain intricate compartments, and were made of Japanese cypress and Japanese cedar.

Sendai is known for isho-dansu were used primarily for clothing storage, characterized by a long top drawer with an elaborated lock or an extended vertical locking bar. Their brilliantly executed iron hardware was commissioned from former sword-fitting craftsmen. You can still get great modern tansu in the city - try Sendai Tansu!

In the cold Tohoku region, the town of Yonezawa developed chest-on-chest isho-dansu. Their iron hardware was decorated with a distinctive five-petal cherry blossom and an ivy pattern. Their hinged door compartment was placed in the top section.

6. How to Enjoy Tansu at Home?

Highly versatile, tansu cabinets can be used anywhere in Eastern and Western homes, whether or not you have many pieces of Japanese furniture, or none. Small tansu can be used as occasional tables, larger ones as sideboards or low storage furniture.

The most important consideration in choosing a tansu is its condition. One may appreciate antique, dusty, and imperfect items with oxidized lacquer or prefer a clean and well-made reproduction. It is a matter of personal taste.

In terms of environment and moisture, Japanese tansu are sensitive to dryness. Openings between parallel boards are sometimes to be expected, especially with secondary woods such as drawers and back panels. Lacquered tansu must be kept away from the sun, especially if urushi lacquer is employed.

© Kiri Tansu Saisei Kobo, Repairing Tansu

Be vigilant with missing or replaced hardware. Repairs should be done by a professional, and if possible, a tansu craftsman. Nevertheless, choosing a reproduction over an antique tansu may have its advantages: dried primary woods may be more resistant, veneered plywood is often employed as a secondary material, synthetic lacquer is applied. If you’re in Japan, try Kiri Tansu Saisei Kobo, who breathe new life into antique tansu!