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Apartment and interior
Tansu
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Tansu
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Tansu is Japanese locker, trunk or cupboard for keeping clothes, documents, armory, household goods etc.
History
First trunks appeared in Japan in VIII century. Visitors from the continent brought in them gifts for Emperor Yamato. Precious manuscripts, fabrics, elegant clothes, crockery etc had been keeping in trunks, wooden boxes or in lockers with drawer. Such luxury for a long time was privilege of Emperor's court but little by little Chinese and Korean lockers for expensive kimonos' keeping appeared in aristocratic houses.
Tansu became the custom during evolution and consolidation of merchant class. In commercial environment tansu at first was a sign of status. Tansu's presence in office was evidence of merchant's prosperity.
But more and more merchants fell need in devices for keeping money, goods, household things. Shroffs and money-lenders needed firm lockers with crafty locks for money keeping. Moreover medieval Japanese towns were building form wood and paper and often burned. In such cases tansu helped to carry out valuable from house.
Locker and its sorts gained ground in Japan in the first half of XVIII century. Among them were kitchen cabinet (mizuya) for crockery, wardrobes and lockers for clothes (isyou-tansu), box for needlework (haribako), case for cold steel (katana-tansu), ship trunk (funatansu), office bureau (chyotansu), boxes for tea (chyatansu) etc.
Each tansu was unique because it was made to order taking into account wishes about shape, material and decoration.
Material
The technology of woodworking in Japan is very developed. In tansu's making following sorts of wood are in use
Paulownia. Absorbs moisture very well. This material is eminently suitable for Japan with its well-marked seasons and large moisture. Moreover paulownia has beautiful structure and it's heat and water resistant.
Zelkova. Hard sort of wood with beautiful structure.
Cryptomeria japonica. Wood with beautiful structure, is operated on well.
Chestnut. Wood is hard, water-resistant, but darkens with time.
Chamaecyparis. Wood with nice smell, keeps well.
Besides these sorts in tansus' making also are used fir and oak.
Metal decorations, corners and handles were made from bronze or iron. They could be with or without pattern.
Equipment
Traditionally tansus were made without nails but with application of carpenter tenons and wooden hinges. Tansus for keeping valuable were equipped with secret mechanisms. European locks came only in second half of XIX century.
Manufacture centers
At first tansu had been made in Kansai region (Osaka-Kobe). At that time Osaka was the first-rate commercial center of Japan and Kobe was its main sea gates. When the capital have been moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1868 merchants and artisans also moved in new capital. Tokyo school of cabinet-makers began to develop. Tansu workshops appeared in Sendai (Miyagi prefecture), Soma (east part of Fukusima prefecture), Nihommazu (central part of Fukusima), Yenejava (Yamagata prefecture), on Sado island (Niigata prefecture). Each workshop had its own pattern or stamp with picture of pine, crane, tortoise etc. By this stamp it was easy to determine tansu's origin.
Kinds of tansu
Under stairs locker (kaidan-tansu)
These tansu were made for using area under stairs and had suitable shape. Some of these lockers served as stairs and had the hand-rail. Well thought-out order of drawers and shelves did tansu very handy. |
Kaidan-tansu |
Office bureau (chyotansu)
Such bureaus have been stand in shops' offices where calculations and trading recordings were made. Besides writing-materials they kept money and documents. That's why office bureaus were made with locks and secrets devices. Often choytansu were made from expensive wood. |
Chyotansu |
Ship trunk (funatansu)
Metal details on the fore-part of funatansu were not just decoration. They made ship trunk firm and able to be spared by shipwreck. Shop trunk divided into safes and wardrobe. |
Funatansu |
Tansu on wheels
Because of wheels it was easy to carry these tansu out in the case of contingencies and adversity such as fire, earthquake etc. |
Tansu on wheels |
Dresser (mizuya)
This tansu is designed for keeping the crockery and food so its ventilation is given special attention. |
Mizuya |
Cupboard for medicines (kusuri-tansu)
These tansu with a lot of small drawer have been used by doctors and chemists. Often they were called "hundred-eyed" because of metal handles looked like eyes. Another name of such tansu is cupboard of hundred tastes. |
Kusuri-tansu |
Wardrobe (isyou-tansu)
It is used for keeping kimonos. Main producers are in Tohoku district. Tansu of each producer are different by the structure of wood and original metal details. |
Isyou-tansu |
Tea dresser (chyatansu)
It is tansu for keeping tea-ceremony ware and usual one. At first tea dressers were rather small but little by little they increased their size. |
Chyatansu |
Case for swords (katana-tansu)
This is wide tansu with rather shallow drawers. There are also several boxes for keeping small items. |
Katana-tansu |
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There are also other kinds of tansu, for instance hawker's tray, case for Noh masks, box for needlework (haribako), cupboard for bedding etc.
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Haribako |
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