shuji nakagawa for sfera

‘shuji’ by shuji nakagawa for sfera

shuji nakagawa is the third master of nakagawa woodcrafts, following in the footsteps of his father kiyotsugu nakagawa who was a designated living national treasure of japan, known for his woodcrafting techniques.

taking his expertise in working with wood, shuji nakagawa has started a new brand called ‘shuji’ along with a workshop – nakagawa woodcrafts hira studio. though nakagawa’s practice is embedded in using age old approaches of working with the natural material, he combines this with his background in modern art, looking for a creative means which breaks away from current borders and trends through his work. he has produced a new collection entitled ‘shuji’ for the milan-based company sfera. each of the vessels bring forth nakagawa’s pursuits, presenting a contemporary twist on the traditional wooden containers forming each one by hand, cutting and planing the wooden pieces individually and then carefully piecing them together into a finished object.

range of ‘shuji’ containers image © designboom

nakagawa uses alternating types of wood to create patterns on some of the containers image © designboom

shuji nakagawa portrait © designboom

production process of working by hand to produce the wooden containers

cutting the individual pieces down

shuji nakgawa in his studio with his range of hand-made japanese wooden crafts