Learn to Build Furniture the Japanese Way

Japanese Furniture Projects in Solid Wood teaches the reader five solid-wood projects for the home, developed and first published in Japan. Translated from the original Japanese, the projects are the work of Mitsuo Fujimoto, a custom furnituremaker located in Akiruno City, Tokyo.

These projects include two stools, a table, an audio rack, and a cabinet. The author covers basic equipment, basic milling, and construction. The projects incorporate a mix of Western power tools and Japanese hand tools. The designs are not complicated but require some woodworking skills. The projects look simple but are very satisfying to make because they do involve a certain amount of hand tool use, which will sharpen the beginning woodworker’s skills.

Over 800 step-by-step photographs guide the reader through the completion of each project. Key Points in each project are called out in the photographs and captions to alert the reader to various procedures. The designs are quite straightforward but they offer the woodworker a chance to explore various processes that will expand their understanding of the craft of furniture building. For example, the book teaches the reader about the construction of octagonal legs, angled leg attachments, angled mortise and tenon joints, biscuit joinery, and pattern routing.