My First Note: [Self-Introduction] This is Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing.
Nice to meet you.
We are Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing, a furniture maker in Fukuoka Prefecture.
We are starting our note today.
※To be honest, I realized the existence of my first note after I had already published one😅
So, this is actually our second post.
You can find our first article here.
We usually deliver furniture primarily through our online shop. On our product pages, we try to convey information such as size, materials, and price as carefully as possible.
However, there are things that cannot be fully conveyed through product pages alone.
The background of how this furniture was born. The faces of the people who make it. The atmosphere of Okawa, the town of furniture. And the scenery of the lives where the furniture arrives.
We would like to share these things here, little by little.
67 years in the furniture production area of Okawa.
Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing was founded in 1959, in the 34th year of the Showa era.
Our founder, Mitsuo Kawaguchi, went to Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, as an apprentice at the age of 15. Okawa has long been known as one of Japan's leading furniture production areas. It is a place where craftsmen have honed their skills, weaving through factories filled with the scent of wood. There, Mitsuo was taught the foundations of furniture making from scratch.
He then became independent at the age of 20. The company started as Kawaguchi Woodworking, manufacturing kitchen cupboards.
At first, it was a small factory. We didn't have large equipment. However, I have heard that the desire to 'deliver furniture made with my own hands to someone's life' has remained unchanged from the beginning.
We incorporated in 1970, becoming 'Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing Co., Ltd.' In 2007, the second generation, Ken Kawaguchi, took over as representative, leading us to where we are today.
67 years since our founding. Many things have changed, but some things remain the same.
'Attention, consideration, and care.'
This is a phrase that Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing has always cherished. Whether we are making furniture or interacting with customers, this spirit is at our core.
The reason we brought 'light-colored interiors' into the world of furniture.
If you have seen Kawaguchi Furniture's products, you might have thought this at first.
"I didn't know furniture could come in colors like this."
Greige, taupe, pale white. Many of the pieces we create feature soft, gentle hues that are a bit different from what you might call "typical furniture colors."
When people think of furniture, they think of dark brown or natural wood tones. In an era when that was the norm, we began creating furniture based on gray and greige tones.
The inspiration was the light in our daily lives.
In the morning, soft light streams in through the curtains. When that light falls on a tabletop, the atmosphere of the entire room brightens up. We wanted to create furniture that could capture that feeling.
The "taupe series," born in 2021, is the embodiment of that vision. We believed in this direction even before the term "pale interior" became mainstream.
It may not be furniture for everyone. But we want our furniture to have a personality that resonates with at least one in a hundred people. That is our brand concept.
From development to finishing: About our "full-line factory."
While we call ourselves a furniture manufacturer, there are many different ways to operate. Some companies only handle design and outsource production, while others only handle specific processes.
Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing is one of the few manufacturers in the Okawa furniture production area that operates a "full-line factory."
Development, design, wood processing, assembly, and finishing. We handle every step of the process from start to finish in-house.
Why go to such lengths?
The reason is simple: if every process isn't within reach, you can't make those "just a little bit more" adjustments.
Take the color of a tabletop, for example. The color greige changes its impression completely with even the slightest difference in paint. "I want just a little more warmth," or "This wood grain would look better with a half-tone calmer color." Such subtle judgments can only be made while looking at the actual piece on the factory floor.
The development team and the finishing team are in the same factory. They can look each other in the eye and ask, "What do you think about this?" That proximity is what supports the furniture making at Kawaguchi Furniture.
"Giving shape to everyone's 'likes' in the family."
Our brand concept is, "Giving shape to everyone's 'likes' in the family."
When choosing furniture, it is not uncommon for opinions to differ within a family. The father prioritizes functionality. The mother wants to focus on design. The child wants a "place of their own."
Fulfilling everyone's "likes" in a single piece of furniture is no easy task.
However, we want to get as close to that as possible.
If you use a melamine tabletop, you can just wipe it off if your child spills a drink. If you choose a pale color, it won't ruin the atmosphere of the interior that the mother cherishes. With sturdy legs and a thick tabletop, the father can also rest assured that it will last a long time.
We want to create a place where such "everyone's likes" overlap through furniture.
In the evening, the mother is drinking tea next to the dining table where the child has spread out their homework. The father comes home, and dinner begins at that same table.
We hope our furniture can be in the middle of such casual scenes.
What we will deliver in this note
In this note, we plan to write about the following things:
Introductions to new products and series (including behind-the-scenes development stories that cannot be fully conveyed on product pages)
About Okawa, the town of furniture
The daily lives of our craftsmen and staff
Useful tips for choosing furniture
Announcements of events and campaigns
Updates will be irregular, but we hope to deliver them as regularly as possible.
While we convey "information" on our e-commerce site, we want to deliver "warmth" in this note. That is what we are thinking.
Finally
Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing is not a large company.
We don't run TV commercials, and we don't have stores all over the country. However, we have been making furniture in the Okawa production area for 67 years.
"Good furniture creates good makers, and good makers create good furniture."
This is another phrase that we cherish.
Making good furniture nurtures the people who make it. The people who have grown then make good furniture again. We want to continue this cycle here in Okawa.
I would be happy if this note serves as an opportunity for you to get to know Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing.
If you find yourself thinking, "I'd like to know a little more about this company," it would be encouraging if you could follow us.
Let's meet here again.
★ About Kawaguchi Furniture Manufacturing
Official Website: https://www.kawaguchikagu.jp/
Online Shop: https://kawaguchikagu-online.com/
Virtual Showroom: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=nmoxp4szBFC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kawaguchikagu/