From thick, steel studded gates to delicate paper Shoji sliding doors, our collection of authentic artifacts ranges from 50 to 300 years old.
Naturally aged, embracing the Japanese concept of “wabisabi”—the beauty of imperfection—our doors are far from factory produced commodities. Made by hand by skilled craftsmen in an age that treasured specialized skills, our doors have stood the test of time. We are proud to feature both the expert artisanship and the hand-carved imperfections.
Our doors whisper tales from the Samurai era. These antiques can be restored to any condition by our expert craftsmen.
As each of our doors are one-of-a-kind, the exact styles available will vary with supply. Below find descriptions of the types of artifacts we generally have on-hand. Exact supplies can be verified upon request.
Doors that tell a story
Sake Brewery doors
Sake Brewery doors are thick and usually reinforced with iron to protect the valuable contents of sake complexes from bandits, not uncommon in the Edo Era (1600-1800s). Breweries typically had two doors—one made of mud to protect the building from fires, and beyond that, an internal vault door, as pictured above, protecting the goods under lock and key.
The picture above features three types of doors, Itado, Fusuma and Shoji
Sliding doors of all types
Kyoto Trove has hundreds of styles of sliding doors, some on-hand in our warehouse, and others indexed in our national repository. All of our sliding doors have been reclaimed from historical buildings throughout Japan. These pieces have gathered “wabisabi” in their centuries-long journey to the present day. Each handmade design is unique, dating from a time in Japan that valued traditional artistry.
Obido
帯戸
Obido are combination doors likened to a sash on a Kimono. They are sliding wooden doors that usually feature a band of delicate bamboo lattice-work in the middle to provide both transparency and a degree of privacy
Fusuma
襖
Fusuma are delicate sliding doors meant to separate rooms inside a building. Many times they are decorated with calming zen artwork. Made from paper, these doors have withstood the test of time as variations of these doors are not uncommon in many Japanese households.
Itado
板戸
Itado means “plank-door”. Despite a simple appearance, many were made from a cross section of a single tree, with diameters that no longer exist in the modern marketplace. A 1m wide Sakura door would have been made from a 1m wide Sakura tree—an extremely rare commodity today.
Shoji
障子
Shoji are delicate, traditional sliding doors that separate rooms inside of a building. Predating glass windows, they were ubiquitous in Japan in the pre-industrialized era with designs that range from simple to artistic, representing symmetrical designs with the delicate bamboo cross-sections.
Amado
雨戸
Amado are traditional sliding shutters, traditionally shut at night or in heavy weather to protect the paper Shoji doors and straw mats inside a house. This weathering gives Amado a distinctive fade, when the top of the door might be more protected than the base.
Koshido
格子戸
Koshido are sliding doors frequently seen at the entrance gate of a house. The slits keep out intruders while allowing a mix of transparency and privacy to the residence. Koshido were especially common for Machiya houses at the beginning of the urbanization in the Edo Period (1600s-1800s)