Watch Hikiyose Craft Beautiful Woodworks Deep in the Heart of a Japanese Forest

The Odawara area of Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture is known for its age-old woodworking traditions, largely due to the region's rich wooded areas and wide expanses of open space, that leave trees plenty of room to spread deep roots. In the heart of the forest sits the Kii shrine, where the designers at Hikiyose have been cutting and sanding beautiful homewares--think bowls, trays, chopsticks, and the like--using the simplest and most ergonomic design processes. The woodcutters and workers utilize a...