Tansu

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Tansu are traditional Japanese chests, handcrafted and made of fine woods, such as cypress, keyaki, Japanese cedar and koa. The beautiful ornament in the metal fittings and inventive techniques employed to offer storage space make tansu chests quite desirable to foreigners. Tansu are considered the most prolific and important element of the highly regarded Japanese interior design styles.

Two major tansu chests can be found today: Kaidan-dansu employ a staggering pattern, and are used as stairs and storage. Choba-dansu chests display elaborate metal hardware, and were traditionally used in shops to impress customers.