Japanese Cypress Stool

Founded in 1924 by Narajiro Umezawa, the company started out by producing wooden buttons for military uniforms during the Pacific war, but during the post-war reconstruction period, they began crafting other kinds of wooden items like dining tables and washboards. Umezawa remains a small woodworking business local to Mie Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Located in between Japan’s most famous timber-producing areas like Gifu and Nara prefectures. While most of their competitors have transitioned to machines, Umezawa continues to make all pieces meticulously by hand