From childcare worker to craftsman

What I felt while working as a nursery teacher at a facility for severely mentally and physically disabled children. When I took my eyes off the children for a moment, they would throw the toys they were playing with or put them in their mouths, so much so that I couldn't take my eyes off them for even a moment. I wanted to change the situation where the children were always close to getting hurt even while playing, so I started making "wooden toys".


We made safe wooden miniature cars and building blocks with rounded corners and no paint . Children loved playing with them. When parents saw them, they asked us to make some for home use , which led us to start our own company.

What is a valuable product?

Products that are safe no matter where you look

Starting with sourcing materials, we handle everything from planning, design, engineering, manufacturing and sales in-house. Rather than purchasing and selling products, we take pride in our work of creating, inventing and pioneering. We want to continue to manufacture products that we are proud of, even when we make all of our manufacturing processes public . We promise to only use materials that we are satisfied with and have examined as safe and secure.

Committed to direct sales from manufacturer

We would like to convey the products we make to our customers and have them use them after understanding the thoughts of the makers and the background of their manufacturing.By providing them directly to our customers , we can avoid middleman margins and promise to sell our customers products made from high-quality materials at a fair price .

The product is useful for children's development

At first, children are intrigued and find battery-operated toys fun, but in the end they often end up playing with stuffed teddy bears or rabbits for longer.
Toys that move automatically are fun at first , but because the movements are the same, children quickly get bored of them. We believe that children find toys that they can control and think about by themselves more interesting. Toys that can be played with in this way should help develop imagination and creativity and aid in development . Children are the main characters. We believe that toys exist to help children grow.

Handcrafted products

Safety

There are many processes that wood goes through before it is turned into a finished product. First, trees are cut down from the mountains and purchased in the form of logs. The big difference with purchasing wood as planks is that as little adhesive is used as possible when shaping the planks. The paints used for the finishing materials are also made primarily from natural linseed oil and are only harmless to the human body. In addition to chemicals such as formaldehyde, toluene, and xylene, there are many other substances that are harmful to the human body. Safety is taken into consideration in order to make products gentle on users and prevent health damage. This is strongly influenced by the fact that the founder himself is sensitive to chemicals .

touch

The materials used are mainly Japanese cypress from Kochi and Hyogo prefectures, as well as beautifully colored hardwoods from Gifu, Nara, Hokkaido, and Akita . All of these trees are over 70 years old, have a fine grain, and when polished, they have a beautiful, beautiful texture. However, polishing with machines alone does not leave some areas polished or give them a glossy finish. By carefully hand-finishing each piece , which cannot be replicated by mass-produced industrial products, we are able to achieve a texture that is so soft that babies will put it in their mouths right away.

Products that can be used with confidence

Japan has one of the highest forest cover rates in the world among developed countries . However, the country's wood self-sufficiency rate is less than 45%. There are so many things around us that use wood, such as furniture, toys, and houses, but the materials used are mostly foreign wood, or chemical products such as wood-based materials, aluminum, and plastic resins. While there are an increasing number of convenient and inexpensive products , there is also an increase in modern diseases that cause people to react sensitively to chemicals, become ill, and cause allergic symptoms. Isn't it the original way for children to grow up surrounded by nature, and to live a rich life using things made of wood even if there are no mountains nearby?

Uses 15 types of Japanese wood

Currently, we are We use 15 different types of wood depending on the product or part. There aren't many companies that have this many types of wood in stock at all times and use them for various toys and furniture. Japanese wood has beautiful colors, so you can enjoy colorful hues without having to stain the wood.

The right person in the right place

Wood has a variety of hardness depending on the type of wood. For example, we use strong zelkova and oak for the joints of our furniture. Hinoki wood, which shines when polished and is resistant to moisture, is used for the tables. Products that babies put in their mouths are painted with vegetable-based paint, so we use wood that absorbs oil well. We value the use of wood's characteristics in our manufacturing, using 15 different types of wood and substituting other wood when we cannot procure it due to the season.

Furniture made from solid wood

Starting in January 2023, we will begin making solid wood furniture with a new mindset, dispelling the conventional notion that knots are ugly and less valuable, and instead seeing knots as the individuality of the wood and a gift from the management of the forest.

Differences from previous materials

On the left is a conventional [width joint lumber], and on the right is a [solid board]. [Width joint lumber] is made by joining boards about 10 cm wide horizontally to make a single board, while [solid board] uses a single wide board.
■Width patch timber: By selecting and joining only the knot-free sections, furniture that is close to knot-free can be created.
■ Solid board = A single board is used, including the knots. You can enjoy the fine grain and unique expression of the wood. (The tree is long-lived.)

More natural and safe furniture

Rather than the "norm" in the industry that knot-free furniture is elegant and beautiful, we believe that "making furniture using the bounty of the forest as it is" is more natural and allows you to enjoy the expression of wood more than ever before.

Furthermore, trees that have been pruned and cared for for 50 to 70 years have few knots and are sold at high prices in the market as high-quality materials. By directly purchasing logs from old, well-cared for trees and using the knots as part of the design, we are able to provide our customers with "furniture with a unique look."

Regarding the handling of clauses

Live knots and missing knots (holes) are considered to be part of the wood's individuality, and are used as part of the design of the furniture, provided that they do not affect the use of the furniture.
For example, hollow knots are used for shelves and side panels.

Taking the time and effort to provide our customers with even better quality

Compared to width-sawn lumber, it is more difficult to manage and produce solid boards, with particular attention to storage and drying methods. The work process is more time-consuming than ever before, but we would like to share with our customers the beautiful expression of this solid board, which has developed thanks to the generations of people who manage the forest.