Tomioka Shoten Co., Ltd.

Our company

History of Corporation:

1970
Established a non-corporate company named Tomioka Shoten by Kazuya Tomioka. The company was transferred from Kikuchi Shoten who retired of his old age.

1975
Changed to an incorporated company named Tomioka Shoten Co., Ltd.

1976
Opened a sales office in Iwase, Kakunodate-machi. In the same year the Cherry Bark Work was designated as a “Traditional Craft” by the Minister of Economic & Industry.

1982
Newly built an executive office and a showroom in Daisen City on a property where the Tomioka family owned.

1988
Newly built a factory next to the executive office.

1994
Moved the sales office to Tamachi, Kakunodate-machi (Iwase) and opened it as a newly-built office.

2002
Opened a newly-built gallery next to the executive office .

2005
Opened a newly-built gallery in Higashikatsurakucho, Kakunodate-machi, And moved the executive office there by officially registering this office as a head office of Tomioka Shoten. This office and the gallery “Kazuki” is a sales head quarter ever since. All orders of the items are received and handled in the office in Daisen city.

Our spectrum of services

History of KABA-ZAIKU
Kaba-zaiku is the craft of making products from wild cherry bark. The technique was first used 230 years ago for brush handles, bows, and sheaths for swords and other items. Nowadays, it is used instead to make tea caddies, trays, snack dishes, saucers, and other everyday items for modern living.

Kaba-zaiku techniques have been passed down from masters to apprentices, which is why the whole process is carried out delicately by hand. Far from being dated, kaba-zaiku craft products are modern and continually changing to meet the needs of the times.

The traditional element of kaba-zaiku is the craft itself.

About YAMAZAKURA and Eco
The wild cherry trees repeatedly revive and re-grow.
The trees are not harvested by cutting down: instead, a special technique is used whereby only the bark is removed, allowing the trees to live on. After several years over the areas from which the bark has been taken, a cork-like "second skin of bark" grows back. This too can be harvested with the process being repeated again and again.
Harvesting during the winter results in about 20 new shoots sprouting. Most of these are pruned back, but a few strong ones are allowed to remain to ensure thriving healthy trees. Besides sprout regeneration, cherry kernels which have dropped to the ground can result in new trees through spontaneously germination. The wild cherry trees can be considered as an eco-material that undergoes repeated resurgence and re-growth.

Antibacterial
Tests for antimicrobial products show that wild cherry bark has an antimicrobial activity value of 1.85 times for coliform bacillus and 3.1 times for staphylococcus aureus.