Traditional Craft "Nambu Tansu" DNA Inherited by Camping Furniture Brand "A&D/W"

Technology often conjures images of cutting-edge and innovative creations, but we mustn't forget that many of these advancements are built upon the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the past.

Launched in Iwate Prefecture in 2020, A&D/W is a camping furniture brand developed by the folk craft furniture maker Marui Zoukei, founded in 1945. This brand outputs skills in furniture-making, handed down across three generations, as easy-to-assemble outdoor furniture.
 
The "Shichirin Irori" table, a flagship product of the brand, not only carries forward traditional techniques and craftsmanship but also embodies the spirit of material selection and creation. The story behind its inception is captivating. We spoke with Masayuki Chiba, the spokesperson for Marui Zoukei, about the background and product lineup of "A&D/W."

Since its launch in 2020, "A&D/W" has quickly made a splash by winning domestic craft awards and the D2C Award. The unique concept of bringing an irori into the outdoors, combined with the easy-to-maintain and portable assembly structure, and its high-quality appearance, has caught the attention of campers.
 
Despite the novel concept, the mastermind behind "A&D/W" is a traditional craft furniture maker rooted in Iwate. How did a three-generation-old family business give birth to the "Shichirin Irori"? We enquired about the company, Marui Zoukei.
 
"Marui Zoukei was founded by my grandfather in Kunohe Village, Iwate Prefecture, and this year marks our 78th year. The traditional Nambu Tansu craftsmanship was passed down from my grandfather to my father, and now my younger brother, Nobuhiro Chiba, is the president, continuing the legacy with our craftsmen.
 
"We are three brothers; Nobuhiro, the youngest, has been working hands-on in Kunohe Village. The second and eldest brothers, including myself, leveraged our experiences in different industries to protect and manage the family business together.

"In Kunohe Village, our president and the craftsmen handle product manufacturing, while I utilize my experience in public structure design to handle product design, sales, and public relations from our base in Nara. Our eldest brother, based in Kanagawa, applies his interior design skills as a first-class architect to our furniture design."

The concept of leveraging each brother's strengths while inheriting the family business is a modern approach. Additionally, multiple bases of operation beyond Iwate bring significant advantages to the folk craft furniture maker.
 
"While we divide our roles, we collaborate on many tasks. Although unrelated to the outdoor brand 'A&D/W,' we typically participate in exhibitions featuring Japanese artisans, product shows, and furniture exhibitions held at department stores to showcase our traditional craft furniture.

"Distributing our responsibilities across different regions allows us to cover a wide range of events nationwide."

We make the products with our own hands, explain the products ourselves, and sell them ourselves. Consistently, for three generations, Marui Zoukei has been close to its users. It is precisely this dedication that gave birth to the new business "A&D/W."

"We got the idea for 'A&D/W' in 2020. With the pandemic causing a drop in department store events, we lost not only the opportunity to sell but also the chance to let people know about the excellence of traditional crafts furniture.
 
"While pondering what the company could do, I was on a day off, grilling snacks on a shichirin (charcoal grill) in the garden, thinking about my late father who passed a few years ago. He used to grill squid and sweet potatoes on a shichirin in the evenings... And during his illness, he would often say, 'Can't we do something interesting with the Hokkaido Birch we bought 30 years ago?'...
 
"Hokkaido Birch is so hard, it can break an axe, yet it's resistant to warping and scratches, making it ideal for outdoor furniture. 'How about making a table to surround the shichirin using Hokkaido Birch?' Everything seemed to click.
 
"With camping booming during the pandemic and both the president and company being camping enthusiasts, we had the materials and skills ready for immediate action."
 
Thus, the 'Shichirin Irori' was born as a place for outdoor gatherings. It's proposed as an assembly-type camping gear, akin to an outdoor version of the 'Dining Hibachi' used indoors. It reinvented the traditional hearth, once the center of family gatherings, as contemporary outdoor gear.

"While a tansu is a combination of boxes, making it simple in form, traditional ones have a solid structure that relies on 'shiguchi'—joints with alternating tenons and mortises, without using nails or screws.

"The woodworking camp gear developed by 'A&D/W' applies this technique to ensure the legs and top boards of the shichirin hearth fit securely even though they are assembly type.
 
"Although we could have used a foldable structure that connects parts with metal, to reduce setup time, we deliberately made it fully assembly-type since connecting with metals means additional cleaning and maintenance effort.

"Moreover, if any part breaks, you can send just the broken part for us to handle right away."
 
Creating furniture that can be passed down from parent to child, and grandchild, and continuously used is Marui Zoukei's commitment. This philosophy is embedded in not only traditional craft furniture but also the outdoor gear of "A&D/W."