Karimoku is a wooden furniture manufacturer from central Japan with a history of more than 70 years.
Their tradition derives from a deep understanding of artisan carpentry in combination with cutting-edge technologies for the construction of high-quality furniture possible.
Collaborating with some of the most promising international design talents such as the Dutch creative couple Scholten and Baijings or the Swiss Big Game studio, the KARIMOKU NEW STANDARD division was created and launched in 2009, a growing collection of innovative, joyful and functional objects which adapt to urban life forms in the 21st century.
With the aim of preserving and revitalizing Japanese forests and regaining balance with the local forestry industry, our products are made using sustainable Japanese woods, such as maple, chestnut and oaks – small – diameters that are often discarded or finish like paper pulp.
KARIMOKU NEW STANDARD pieces are made to give lasting joy, faithful to the belief that a piece of furniture should last at least as long as the tree from which it was made.
The story of Karimoku, a leader in Japanese wooden furniture production, began as a small carpentry shop in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture in 1940. Shohei Kato took over a timber company that already existed in the Edo period.
Processing technologies, surface treatment and wood coloring were accumulated through the subcontracting of the various wooden parts in the mid-1900s: spinning machines that supported Japan’s post-war reconstruction in the 1940s; sewing machine tables, piano parts and TV stands with wooden legs in the 1950s; and the company of the time sought original furniture for the domestic market in the early 1960s.
Since then, Karimoku has focused on pursuing its original concept of “high-tech and high-touch” products by defining bases in timber production areas. Karimoku has a large and reliable supply of large-scale advanced materials and structures showing techniques of craftsmen in the greatest possible extension. In addition, the company has also put in place a national system for wholesale and after-sales services for product care. Thus, Karimoku has developed a unique and unprecedented system that traverses the procurement of materials, production and sales within a company.
Karimoku also aims to help improve people’s lives to meet the challenges presented by environmental issues. This is demonstrated in the history of over 30 years of Karimoku in the reform and use of “Parawood”, a product derived from rubber trees after its use in latex production.