Shiozawa Kogei

The studio of the muntin craft artist Masanobu Shiozawa: Here, visitors can see room lights incorporating Japan's traditional muntin craftsmanship and large-scale one-of-a-kind muntin works depicting cherry blossoms and Mt. Fuji. Colors on the works are of natural wood, and no additional coloring was used. Visitors will be mesmerized by the highly sensitive skills of the craftsman.

* Muntin craft is Japan's traditional technique used for decoration of doors and screens. With a history of approximately 400 years, the technique requires only the skills of craftsmen to assemble wood pieces with absolutely no nails. Narrow pieces of wood are divided from a larger piece, and grooves, holes, and mortises are made in them using tools like a plane saw and chisel. Those pieces are then assembled to become a decorative part of frames and screens with the most sensitive adjustments.