The production of wood furniture in this prefecture concentrates around Hiroshima, Fuchu and
the vicinity of these cities. In the year Bunroku 2 (1593) Kuronobutomo Takeda of Kai (present
day Yamanashi Prefecture) founded lacquering in the Hiroshima region. among the renown Fuchu
furniture the "Fuchu cupboard" is particularly famous. Approximately 290 years earlier Enzou
Uchida mastered its manufacturing technique and started to make this kind of furniture.
Tradition says that the cabinet maker Tomikichi Uchida was the first who used this technique.
During the Meiji period Hiroshima became a military city and regional government and municipal
offices were set up in Kure and Fuchu. The demand for furniture by the officials provided a
major stimulating impulse for the furniture manufacture.
Based on the demand during the restoration after the war, this industry succeeded with the
help of part time workers hired from all over Japan to handle the large orders of government
officials and stationed army personnel through mass production. In the 50s, in addition to a
modernization of design and management methods, a nationwide sales network was established.
This led from local demand orientated products to the development of nationwide sales.
Moreover, the period of rapid growth the increasing number of households and income level
caused an increased demand and thus led, with the help of mass production technologies, to a
rapid development of this industry.
Presently, this branch of the industry tries to develop built-in furniture as a part of
interior work and the establishment of sample market, because the situation on the housing
market and an increased import volume caused a stagnation in the production volume.
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