Encounter Asahikawa furniture at train stations, hotels, and around town.

Have you heard of Asahikawa furniture? With a history spanning over 100 years, it’s world-renowned for its high-quality wood—primarily sourced from Hokkaido—and its exquisite design.

I first learned about Asahikawa furniture at “OMO7 Asahikawa by Hoshino Resorts.” The lobby features chairs and tables made from Asahikawa furniture, and you can even try sitting in them to compare them.

Seeing the chairs at the hotel, I was connected to my memory of JR Asahikawa Station. The station is lined with chairs of various colors and shapes, and anyone can use them. The escalators and stairs leading to the platforms were designed in a unique way, using a lot of wood.

I later learned that this is an initiative of the Asahikawa Furniture Industry Cooperative Association, called the Asahikawa Furniture Lounge. The chic interior design, using Hokkaido's tamo wood, was created by architect Hiroshi Naito. The day after my stay at the hotel, I went on a Michikusa trip to the Asahikawa Design Center, where I could experience Asahikawa, the "City of Furniture.

Asahikawa Design Center is located 15 minutes by car from Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa City. 1980 Asahikawa Furniture Center was renovated in 2017 under the name of "Asahikawa Design Center". This is a store where about 30 furniture and craft makers from the Asahikawa region of Hokkaido (Asahikawa City, Higashikawa Town, Higashikagura Town) have permanent booths. The restaurant and sundry goods select store are also stylish.

A quality space like a furniture museum

The shop is centered around an atrium entrance that extends to the second floor, and begins with a special exhibition on the first floor, followed by permanent booths for each furniture brand (Kandi House, Takumi Kogei, Taisetsu Woodworks, Cosine, Interior Kitasho Kobo, East No. 10 Kobo, Gersey Calm Works, etc.). Gersey Calm Works, and about 30 other companies).

Last summer's exhibition was "Summer Hygge: A peaceful summer at home. The exhibition was held at the Asahikawa Furniture Industry Cooperative, which operates the exhibition.
The exhibition was held last summer under the title of "Summer Hygge: A peaceful summer spent at home," said Yoshimasa Sugimoto, executive director of the Asahikawa Furniture Industry Cooperative, which operates the exhibition, Hygge is a Danish word meaning 'warm and comfortable time and space. The Corona disaster and the Asahikawa Furniture Co., Ltd. have been working on the theme of "Hygge" to propose a lifestyle that makes the home a place of spiritual enrichment, rather than a place of "endurance" or "patience. The theme of the event was "Hygge" and the theme was "Home is where the heart is rich.

The exhibition, which will open on April 7, 2021, is titled "Design Stories from IFDA: Stories of Living with Designers. The exhibition, which opens on April 7, 2021, is titled "Design Stories from IFDA: Stories of Living with Designers. The exhibition will introduce Asahikawa Furniture's activities over the past 30 years, especially the "International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa (IFDA)" which started in 1990. The archive footage of the "International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa (IFDA)", a world-scale wooden furniture design competition that started in 1990, and the prize-winning works of the past 30 years are well worth seeing.

Why the next generation is growing up in a furniture production area

The Asahikawa Design Center provides a background of how Asahikawa became the "City of Furniture".

Asahikawa, Hokkaido's second largest city, began as Asahikawa Village, which was established in 1890. Surrounded by the majestic Daisetsuzan mountain range, Asahidake, the city is blessed with abundant water and wood resources. There were wood mills in the area, and oak produced in Hokkaido was known as "Japanese oak," the highest quality in the world, and was exported from Otaru Port to overseas. The area was a center for the collection and distribution of high quality timber.

Its location in the center of Hokkaido also contributed to the furniture industry. During the war, the 7th Army Division was established in the city, and the population grew along with the development of the railroad and the town, which increased the demand for buildings and housing, and furniture manufacturing industries sprang up one after another. The rice industry was unstable due to poor harvests caused by cold weather, and furniture was expected to become a year-round industry.

During the period of rapid economic growth after the war, sales of so-called "box furniture" such as wedding furniture increased. However, lifestyle changes, the collapse of the bubble economy, and the tragedy of furniture collapsing in a major earthquake all contributed to a change in people's concept of furniture. The use of built-in storage furniture by housebuilders became popular. Then came the rise of disposable, inexpensive furniture. Recently, subscriber rental services, in which furniture is rented for a fixed fee, have become a hot topic.

In the midst of this demand for change, Asahikawa Furniture has teamed up with designers in Japan and abroad to develop unique, design-oriented products that are easy to use, beautiful, and long-lasting, including chairs known as "legged furniture.

The Asahikawa Furniture brand was strengthened by the fact that support was provided for the education of young craftsmen from an early stage," says Sugimoto.

In 1963, a city-supported overseas training program was implemented, and young craftsmen of the time, including the late Minoru Nagahara of Kandi House, which now represents Asahikawa furniture, studied manufacturing overseas, leading to the evolution of Asahikawa furniture, he says.

The Asahikawa Furniture Company has since developed through a history of public-private partnerships, including the establishment of universities and vocational schools for furniture and design, the holding of the International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa (IFDA) (1990-), and the establishment of the Asahikawa Furniture Manufacturers' Charter (2007). Asahikawa's commitment to domestically produced timber and activities to protect forests and plant trees for this purpose have also continued over the years. (Reference: Yasuo Kawashima (ed.), "100 Neni-Ichi no Chairs Craftsman," Shin Hyoron Co.

Let’s Visit “Asahikawa, the City of Furniture”

Every June, “Asahikawa Design Week” is held, centered around the Asahikawa Design Center. In addition to new product launches and business meetings by various companies, the event features factory tours and workshops that are also enjoyable for travelers.

I am reminded of the words of Mr. Sugimoto, who makes furniture for a living: "What does furniture mean to me?
What does furniture mean to me?　Furniture is a familiar tool. It is always by my side, a comforting companion, a partner in my life. If you take good care of it and treat it with care, you can rely on it to be passed on to your children's generation.

The more time you spend with something, the more you love it. Furniture that makes your home time more comfortable. There is nothing more wonderful than traveling to a place of origin, experiencing it at a local hotel or store, and making it a lifelong friend. Please visit Asahikawa, the "City of Furniture"!

Asahikawa Design Center

• 1-35, Nagayama 2-jo 10-chome, Asahikawa, Hokkaido MAP
• 15 minutes drive from JR Asahikawa Station.
• Take a bus from FIEL Asahikawa in front of JR Asahikawa Station, get off at Nagayama 2-jo 10-chome and walk shortly.
• 9:00-17:00
• Open daily (closed at the end of the year, beginning of the year, and Bon holidays)
• 0166-48-4135
• Free of charge