{"id":87342,"date":"2016-05-31T19:06:48","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T10:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?p=87342&lang=en"},"modified":"2017-12-20T15:36:04","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T06:36:04","slug":"u-houseing-made-japan-solid-wood-furniture-wooden-items","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/u-houseing-made-japan-solid-wood-furniture-wooden-items\/","title":{"rendered":"U-houseing: Made-in-Japan Solid Wood Furniture and Wooden Items"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top-quality, stylish wooden furnishings and gifts for Fukuoka locals and visitors!<\/p>\n

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Ikea has a lot to answer for. And we\u2019re not just talking about the hours lost fiddling about with an Allen key. So ubiquitous have the Swedish mega-maker\u2019s pale-blond designs become that you\u2019d be forgiven for forgetting that wood comes in more than just a few standard shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anywhere to be reminded otherwise, it\u2019s at U-houseing<\/a>, an independent furniture store southwest of Fukuoka\u2019s city center that specializes in making natural, hand-crafted wood part of modern homes. <\/p>\n

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Step into their airy showroom and you\u2019ll find woods of every shade and texture, woods you can\u2019t even name (Hawaiian monkeypod, anyone?). Luckily manager Nobutaka Kawamura can \u2014 in Japanese and English \u2014 as well as a lot more besides.<\/p>\n

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Nobutaka, whose family has been in the furniture business for around a century and who runs U-houseing with his father, is an unabashed wood nerd. The two of them have a sort of philosophy when it comes to their favorite material: use the whole tree. <\/p>\n

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Nobutaka waxes lyrical about one of his favorite pieces: a Japanese oak chair from northern Hokkaido.<\/p><\/div>\n

You can see it borne out in their solid-wood tabletops, shaped to show off knots, ridges and other so-called \u201cimperfections\u201d that other manufacturers would cut around. It\u2019s also in the quirkily shaped smaller items on sale, no two the same \u2014 many of them are offcuts from larger pieces that instead of going to waste have been turned into ornaments in their own right. The results can be unexpected: like the clocks that, when you look a little closer, turn out to have a tiny twig for their second hand, complete with bark and leaves. <\/p>\n

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Nobutaka will tell you where each wood comes from, what its character is, even how it will age. He points out a desk made of young hinoki cypress, so fresh you can still smell its lemony fragrance: in 10 years\u2019 time, he explains, it\u2019ll go from straw-yellow to a buttery caramel.<\/p>\n

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The difference between young wood (left) and old (right).<\/p><\/div>\n

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That matters because whatever you buy from U-houseing, most likely you\u2019ll still have it a decade from now and well beyond. This is furniture made for a lifetime\u2019s use. Sometimes, Nobutaka says, he sees students come to browse and leave without buying anything, only to return a few years later when they\u2019re setting up a \u201creal\u201d home and can finally afford to invest. <\/p>\n

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His pieces may be future heirlooms, but they definitely don\u2019t look like antiques. While the Kawamuras source their stock from independent designers all over Japan, what unites it all is the combination of traditional materials and techniques with a clean, contemporary aesthetic. <\/p>\n

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Think pure lines and matte finishes \u2014 the kind you\u2019ll find on display in trendy eateries such as Shirogane Sabo and Mon An Ethnic, just two of the Fukuoka restaurants that have come here for their fittings. <\/p>\n

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Even if you\u2019re not a design buff yourself, Nobutaka and his staff can help you find what suits your home. They won\u2019t tell you which wood to go for: that\u2019s far too personal a choice. Instead, Nobutaka advises clients to touch as much as they like and go by heart, not head.<\/p>\n

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Say you fall in love with one of their tabletops: U-houseing will help you choose which legs you want it mounted on and find the chairs to go with it. Rather than proposing an identical match, the store prefers to suggest complementary woods and designs that suit each other while meeting different needs \u2014 which is why you might find yourself coming home with a bench, a stool and a couple of chairs instead of the traditional dining room set. <\/p>\n

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If you want a more radical refit, U-houseing has an on-staff interior coordinator who can help plan entire rooms. Head upstairs to the second floor to see mock-ups of what your kitchen, living room or bedroom might look like kitted out with sleek fitted storage units by Gallery Shuno, an Osaka company; U-houseing is the only place in Kyushu where you\u2019ll find their designs. <\/p>\n

They can be ingeniously adapted to the quirks of Japanese apartments. <\/p>\n

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\nShort on space? Set cupboards away from the wall to create a nook for bookshelves behind them.<\/p>\n

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\nScared to hang anything on those paper-thin walls? Try specially mounted wall cabinets that spread the weight.<\/p>\n

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\nThere\u2019s also a children\u2019s playroom where customers are welcome to park their kids while they browse.<\/p>\n

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Narrow offcuts make unique height charts.<\/p><\/div>\n

U-houseing isn\u2019t just for those looking to furnish a whole house. It also stocks a range of home accessories, stationery and gifts, from vases to mix\u2019n\u2019match coasters, magnets to key fobs. Its sets of chopstick rests, for instance, each one made from a different wood and cut to slot together into a cylinder, would make a unique made-in-Japan souvenir. <\/p>\n

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Visitors to Fukuoka will find plenty small enough to fit into a suitcase, while the store can arrange shipping for anything too big to carry home. Customers with tourist status can also shop tax free. <\/p>\n

Wood? You should.<\/p>\n

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\nFree parking in front of the shop.<\/p>\n

U-houseing<\/strong>
\n\u2022 5-6 Tamagawamachi, Minami-ku, Fukuoka<\/a>
\n\u2022 5 min. walk from Takamiya Sta. (free parking in front of the shop)
\n\u2022 Open: 11:00~19:00
\n\u2022 Closed: Wed.
\n\u2022 http:\/\/u-house.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n