【Discover the Feature Exhibition】The Beauty and Technique of Handicraft 2 －Magemono

The Hakata Traditional Craft Museum and the Fukuoka City Museum Collaboration Project: The Beauty and Technique of Handicraft 2 －Magemono

Feature Exhibition Room 4

June 14th (Tue.) ~ August 15th (Mon.), 2022

Small dining table called ‘Poppo-zen’

Magemono are wooden containers made by boiling boards of cypress or cedar, bending the planks while they are still hot, and then binding the edges of the planks together with cherry bark.

Akita, Tochigi, and Nara prefectures are well known for of production of Magemono. In Fukuoka, they are mainly produced in Maedashi in Higashi Ward and they are called ‘Hakata Magemono.’ Hakata Magemono are made from straight-grained timbers without knots which are used without lacquer or any other coating. The beauty of the straight grain of the wood is one of its notable characteristics.

Since ancient times in the town around Hakozaki Shrine in Maidashi, Magemono were used to deliver ritual items to make offerings in Shinto rites. The products gradually became more popular and more widely used as common people began to use similar manufacturing methods to make rice boxes, Sushi Oke (wooden bowls for sushi rice), and other daily items.

Among these magemono is the ‘Poppo-zen,’ which is small dining table. This table has a pine-bamboo-apricot design, a combination called Sho-chiku-bai, symbolizing happiness, and ‘the crane and the turtle,’ which symbolize longevity. These patterns are painted with a color wash. Poppo-zen are used in various rituals in young children's lives, such as ‘Okuizome’ (the weaning ceremony) , or ‘Ozen-zuwari’ in which three-year-old children are given their first adult meal and begin eating with chopsticks.

In this exhibition, we will introduce Magemono products that have been, and are still, used in various aspects of daily life.

Exhibition view