Q&A
How long to design Tabibito?
A couple of weeks.How long to make?
About 180 hours.How many compartments?
Four drawers, three boxes, two of
which were concealed.What sort of joinery did you use?
Handcut through dovetails, half blind
dovetails, hidden mitre dovetails, slots
and grooves.How many joints did you cut?
About 100 tails and 100 pins for all
the dovetails.What kind of glue?
Fish glue and Titebond III.What was the hardest part?
Making mock ups and testing to find
the right amount of air pressure to
make the sequences happen.What was the best part?
At the end, when the hidden boxes
slowly sank into main cube.Would you make this piece again?
I don’t think so, unless if someone
really wanted me to...46 Australian Wood Review
PROFILEinterested in Scandinavian culture
and design since a teenager, Shin
also wanted to know ‘how people live
with craft’. From there he went as
an exchange student to the College
of the Redwoods, fulfilling a desire
to learn more about James Krenov’s
philosophy and style of woodworking.The connection between Japanese
and Scandinavian design has existed
since the mid-1900s and is one Shin
builds on and bridges. ‘I think both
focus on minimalism and design
for furniture that is ergonomically
friendly and blends easily with otherinteriors. But I feel some furniture
designs have too much to say, and the
way people will use them in real life
isn’t fully thought out. Both Japanese
and Scandinavian design are refined
in these ways.’After studying in the USA, Shin
decided to return to Japan, feeling
that it was time to learn the tradition
of his own heritage. The opportunity
to be apprenticed to Yutaka Mogami,
a designated master sashimono
craftsman was the realisation of
yet another dream. ‘While I was
his apprentice, I learnt a lot of old108
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