Our workshop is located in Kiso Hirasawa (formerly Hirasawa Village), in the Narakawa district at the entrance to the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture.
It is located along the Nakasendo road, which was developed by the Edo Shogunate, and was developed as a branch village of Narai-juku (formerly Narai Village), which is now a famous tourist destination.
During the Edo period, craftsmen in the villages of Hirasawa and Narai used high-quality timber grown in the Kiso Valley to make curved wood and lacquered ware, which were then transported all over the country along the Nakasendo road.
The everyday items handcrafted by Kiso craftsmen were called "Kisomono" and became popular as tools supporting the lives of ordinary people.
The work of our predecessors has been passed down to us without interruption, and I feel that the existence of Maruyoshi Kosaka Lacquerware Store is still testament to its Kiso products.
With that in mind, perhaps our job will continue to be to prove the existence of Kiso products.