KABA ZAIKU / AKITA CHERRY BARK CRAFT
About 240 years ago / 1780s / Edo Period (1603–1868)
Kaba-zaiku developed in Kakunodate in the late eighteenth century after techniques for working wild cherry bark arrived from the Ani region. Samurai households adopted the craft as supplementary work, producing tobacco containers and inro; during the modern era, production expanded to tea caddies, document boxes and other household objects.
In Japan, wild cherry bark is admired for its natural surface and the deeper gloss it develops through use. Tea caddies are especially prized because the fitted construction protects leaves from humidity, making the craft remarkably compatible with modern kitchens as well as traditional tea culture.
Despite the name kaba, the material is not white birch but the bark of wild cherry trees. The bark can be harvested without cutting down the tree and regenerates when collected properly, allowing the same woodland resource to be used over long periods. The craft therefore embodies an unexpectedly sustainable relationship with the forest.