焔Maison HomuraShop
2035
三 · Wood — Nara

Nara ittōbori

The knife marks are not sanded away. They are the finish.

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Nara ittōbori — Nara
Nara · From the medieval festival figures

Ittōbori means carving with a single blade. The figure is cut in bold flat planes and the facets are left exactly as the knife left them — no rounding, no sanding, no attempt to hide the making.

The bare wood is then sealed with shell white, painted in mineral pigment, and finished with gold leaf, so a face that is almost angular carries colour as bright as a screen painting.

Nara ittōbori — from the left
From the left

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Nara ittōbori — at the workshop
At the workshop
How it is made
  1. 木取りKidori

    Soft wood, cut small — these are festival figures, not temple work.

  2. 一刀彫Ittō-bori

    Cut in flat planes with a single blade. Nothing is rounded off afterwards.

  3. 彩色Saishiki

    Mineral colour laid straight on the facets, leaving the cuts visible.

  4. 金箔Kinpaku

    Gold leaf on the ground of the better pieces.

The subjects come from the festivals of Nara: dancers, court musicians, deer, figures from Noh.

It is a style that decides in advance not to be smooth, and everything else follows from that.

Nara ittōbori — from the right
From the right
Walk around it
Nara ittōbori — FrontNara ittōbori — LeftNara ittōbori — BackNara ittōbori — Right
Notes
The name
Ittōbori — one blade
The facets
Left as cut, never sanded
Colour
Gofun ground, mineral pigment, gold leaf
Where
Nara
About the place

Ittōbori means one-knife carving, and the name is a promise about what you will be able to see. The facets left by the blade are not smoothed away — they are the finish. A figure is cut in a few decisive planes and then stopped.

Nara · Single-knife carving →Ask us to find one →The Old Capitals · By region →

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