Crafted with different colors of wood arranged in intricate patterns, Yosegi Zaiku or Japanese marquetry is a style of object decoration that’s practiced in Hakone, a town near Mount Fuji. No wood staining is used to create the mosaics; the area around Hakone is well-known for it wide variety of trees. From Wikipedia:
Yosegi-zaiku is a type of traditional Japanese parquetry which originated during Japan’s culturally rich Edo Period… Spindle tree (Euonymus spp.) and Ilex macropoda are used for white, aged Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) for black, Picrasma quassioides, mulberry (Morus alba) and Chinese lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum) for yellow, camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) and Maackia for brown, black walnut (Juglans nigra) for purple, Japanese cucumber tree (Magnolia obovata) for blue and Chinese cedar (Toona sinensis) for red.
Watch master craftsman Tanegi Zukuri create tiled patterns with different cuts of these trees. After gluing them together, he shaves a thin sheet of wood off the top and applies that veneer to other objects like puzzle boxes, bowls, trays, toys, cabinets, tables, and more.
Follow this video with Making a traditional Japanese wooden Kokeshi Doll, Making of Japanese handmade paper of Kyoto Kurotani, Maple Clouds – Making a wooden bowl in stop motion, and a giant forest xylophone plays Bach in this Japanese commercial.via BoingBoing.