Kakunodate Cherry Bark Work Museum

The museum opened in 1978 (Showa 53) to promote kabazaiku, Kakunodate’s traditional cherry bark craft, and serve as a center for tourism. Designed to resemble a samurai residence, the museum features exhibits and a shop offering kabazaiku and other crafts, as well as kabazaiku demonstrations and hands-on workshops.

Kabazaiku is a craft made from the bark of wild cherry trees. Its excellent moisture resistance and antibacterial properties make it ideal for tea caddies, small chests of drawers, trays, and other items. The cylindrical tea caddies with their attractive natural bark patterns are probably a familiar sight from many people’s childhood homes or grandparents’ houses. Although wild cherry bark is used, the craft is called “kabazaiku” because the bark was once known as “sakura-kaba” in Kakunodate. There are several theories about the name’s origin.

Kabazaiku has a long history in Kakunodate. Lower-ranking samurai once produced items such as inro cases, eyeglass cases, and netsuke as a source of extra income. During the Showa era, Soetsu Yanagi, known as the father of the mingei folk craft movement, and others provided guidance to local artisans. These traditional techniques have been passed down and refined into the sophisticated kabazaiku made today.