Tansu

The two characters, tan (箪) and su (笥), appear to have initially represented objects with separate functions: the storage of food and the carrying of firewood.

Woods commonly used in tansu included keyaki (Zelkova serrata (elm)), kuri (Japanese chestnut), ezo matsu (pine), sugi (Cryptomeria (cedar)), kiri (Paulownia tomentosa) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa (cypress)).

Tansu were typically kept in kura (storehouses) adjacent to homes or businesses, in nando (storage rooms), in oshiire (house closet alcoves), and on choba (a raised platform area of a shop).

With the coming of the Meiji Restoration of imperial authority in 1868, and the gradual disintegration of the rigid class structure, distinctive regional characteristics in tansu construction and design began to flourish.

Among his implemented recommendations was the designation of reliable sea transporters of government rice as goyochonin (merchants representing the interests of the shogunate).

Well into the Meiji period, when a sengokubune (1,000 koku ship) would arrive at a coastal town for trading, the crew would ceremoniously off load the captain/owner's personal tansu to be then positioned strategically at the place where negotiations would be held, thus lending a calculated air of affluence and respectability to the visitor's aura.

For a dry finish, clay or chalk powder was rubbed into the soft wood surface (Paulownia, Cryptomeria or cypress) then burnished with an Eulalia root whisk.

For lacquer (Rhus verniciflua), application could be only for sealing the plain wood to enhance a natural visible grain or for the creation of a perfect opaque surface.

Edo-period ryobiraki chest on chest were used by merchant class women for personal clothing storage.
Ryobiraki tansu being carried by hired porters. Woodblock print, Utagawa Toyokuni, 1807
Nagamochi kuruma wheeled trunks are the oldest documented category of tansu .
Edo citizens trying to escape advancing flames with their chests on wheels during the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657. Woodblock print taken from the Musashi Abumi published in 1661.
Merchant's house from the Edo to Meiji periods
Kakesuzuri funa dansu were Edo period shipboard chests for seals, money, charts and documents.
Sendai-dansu for kimono with zelkova wood; note the elaborate ironwork, handles on side for transportation, and lockable compartment.
Detail of lockable compartment of a sendai-dansu
A modern interpretation and a traditional sendai-dansu chest in the Prince Consort Gallery, V&A , London (2024) [ 22 ]