The Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum in Kobe will hold the exhibition "Where Trees Live Again: George Nakashima and Woodworkers" from October 3 (Saturday) through December 13 (Sunday), 2026.
Every tree carries its own individual shape and expression. George Nakashima (1905–1990) was a furniture designer and woodworker who pursued furniture that draws out that individuality. Working with a tree's knots, cracks, and irregular growth rings rather than against them, he produced forms with a presence unlike either industrial products or crafts — pieces rooted in a philosophy of deep respect for materials.
The exhibition centers on Sakura Seisakusho, a workshop in Kagawa Prefecture that has been the sole maker of Nakashima furniture in Japan for more than 60 years. Following the craftsmanship that reads a single piece of wood and guides it into form, the exhibition traces an approach to making things that stands apart from mass production and imitation — an honest engagement with materials. It offers visitors a chance to reflect on the richness of using and passing down objects, through the work of the craftsmen who guide the life of wood into form.
The exhibition features around 35 items in total, including 8 single wood slabs, 9 pieces of George Nakashima furniture, a full set of lounge arm chair production components, and tools.
Exhibition Highlights
1. Discovering George Nakashima's World of Furniture Making
George Nakashima began his career as an architect before turning to woodworking, drawn to a craft where he could "integrate everything from beginning to end." For him, making furniture meant giving a tree a second life. Using Nakashima's own words and works as a guide, the exhibition introduces his philosophy and his approach to furniture making.
George Nakashima (1905–1990)
A second-generation Japanese American (nisei) born in Spokane, Washington, Nakashima was a furniture designer and woodworker who studied forestry and architecture before working in architectural practice in Japan and India, then turning to furniture making. His work, which combines the power of nature with refined form, has earned international acclaim, and his furniture continues to be made today at only two workshops: George Nakashima Woodworkers in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Sakura Seisakusho in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.
2. Tracing How a Single Tree Becomes a Piece of Furniture
The exhibition follows the making of a lounge arm chair, from rough-cut boards and squared timber through machine processing, rough shaping, and finishing, presented alongside the actual components. Visitors can trace the accumulated thinking and judgment behind working with wood — details not visible in a finished piece — by seeing the parts up close.
3. Forms Born from the Dialogue Between Wood and Craftsman
Nakashima's furniture making respects the expression unique to each tree — its knots, cracks, and shifting grain. The rich character of the wood combines with the craftsman's hand guiding it into form, producing the refined presence distinctive to Nakashima furniture.
4. Nakashima's Furniture Making, Passed Down Through Generations
Sakura Seisakusho, in Kagawa Prefecture, has been the sole maker of George Nakashima furniture in Japan for more than 60 years. Through displayed pieces and video, the exhibition explores the feel for reading wood and the judgment behind it — skills and a mindset that cannot be passed down through dimensions or templates alone.
5. Tracing the Appeal of Nakashima's Signature Furniture
Nakashima's furniture still feels fresh across the years. Through signature pieces such as the Conoid Chair and the Lounge Arm chair, the exhibition traces the source of that appeal — values born from the relationship between wood and people that endure across generations.
Related Events
Advance online registration is required for all of the following events.
Talk: "Thinking About Woodworking Through George Nakashima — A Dialogue on Rusticity and Refinement"
Woodworking artist and Living National Treasure Kenji Suda joins Kosuke Nagami, president of Sakura Seisakusho and the person behind the only Japanese workshop making Nakashima furniture, for a conversation built around the idea of craftsmanship where rusticity and refinement coexist.
- Date: September 2 (Sunday), 2026, 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (doors open at 1:00 PM)
- Speakers: Kenji Suda (woodworking artist, Living National Treasure) and Kosuke Nagami (president, Sakura Seisakusho)
- Venue: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, 1F Hall
- Fee: Free (separate museum admission required)
- Capacity: 80 people, first-come, first-served
Workshop: "Make a Wood Charm from Sakura Seisakusho Offcuts — With Exhibition Commentary"
Using offcuts left over from Sakura Seisakusho's furniture-making process, participants create their own one-of-a-kind wood charm — possibly from the same offcuts as a signature piece of furniture on display. The session pairs the workshop with exhibition commentary, letting participants enjoy the individuality and expression of wood along the way.
- Date: October 18 (Sunday) and November 15 (Sunday), 2026. Session 1: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM; Session 2: 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
- Led by: Museum staff. Exhibition commentary on October 18 by the curator in charge; on November 15 by Kosuke Nagami, president of Sakura Seisakusho
- Venue: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, B2 Woodworking Room
- Fee: ¥1,000 (separate museum admission required)
- Capacity: 10 people per session, elementary school age and up, first-come, first-served
Workshop: "Make a Leather-Upholstered Stool"
Participants take on the stool-making project that high school interns at Sakura Seisakusho complete as part of their training, sanding black walnut components and upholstering them in leather. Using materials selected by Sakura Seisakusho, the workshop offers a hands-on introduction to the basic process of chair making.
- Date: November 7 (Saturday) and 8 (Sunday), 2026, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
- Led by: Museum staff
- Venue: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, B2 Woodworking Room
- Fee: ¥28,000 (separate museum admission required)
- Capacity: 5 people per day, junior high school age and up, first-come, first-served
Exhibition Information
- Exhibition Name: Where Trees Live Again: George Nakashima and Woodworkers
- Dates: October 3 (Saturday) to December 13 (Sunday), 2026
- Venue: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, 7-5-1 Kumochi-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo
- Hours: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM (last admission at 4:00 PM)
- Closed: Mondays (or the following weekday if Monday is a public holiday)
- Admission: ¥1,000 general; ¥700 for college/high school students and ages 65 and over; free for junior high school students and younger (includes admission to the permanent exhibition)
- Organizer: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum
- Planning cooperation: Gallery A4
- Cooperation: Sakura Seisakusho, George Nakashima Woodworkers, Nakashima Foundation for Peace
