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Hinomaru Bon (Tray) / dia 44.5cm x h2.5cm / material: unfinished Cedar

The large Hinomaru tray was supposedly used by Buddhist monks to place bowls and dishes on during meals. While Hinomaru trays are often lacquered, Kawai-san opted for an unfinished single plank of wood to highlight the beauty of the material.

Please note that this hand-carved wood tray is a natural product made from solid wood so it may exhibit natural characteristics inherent to wood, such as small cavities, knots or knick marks, dents or deformations. These natural features are not defects but rather add to the unique character and charm of each hand-crafted piece.

Masaru Kawai
Born in Gifu in 1979 into an agricultural family, Masaru Kawai spent his youth running running around the local mountains and forests and playing in his relatives timber yard and workshop. After graduating with an architecture major from Kyoto Seika University in 2001, Kawai undertook woodworking training in Hida (a region in Northern Gifu, rich in hardwoods and well known for its timber furniture) and apprenticed with a furniture maker in Kyoto. He later established his own independent workshop in 2007 and his SOMA brand in 2016. Kawai uses locally sourced Japanese timbers and through his work and his activities he advocates for a 'culture in which we live together with the forest'