🪑 In a modest workshop on the outskirts of Tokyo, a furniture craftsman has won 50 international design awards across 8 countries— using nothing but hand planes and blades. In a world of disposable furniture, this man builds pieces meant to last 100 years. His philosophy proves that Japanese craftsmanship isn't a relic of the past— it's a blueprint for the future.
Meet Shigeki Matsuoka: Japan's "Contemporary Master Craftsman"
On the western edge of Tokyo, in the city of Musashimurayama, sits the workshop of KOMA—a furniture studio of roughly 20 artisans led by a man known simply as "Oyakata" (master). His real name is Shigeki Matsuoka, born in 1977, and he is one of the most decorated furniture makers alive today.
After graduating from art school, Matsuoka apprenticed at Hita Kogei, a furniture manufacturer in Saitama Prefecture. Within just two and a half years, he was entrusted with developing a new chair design—a rare distinction for such a young craftsman. In 2003, he struck out on his own and founded KOMA, building a brand around a deceptively simple idea: every piece of furniture should have the quality and beauty of a one-of-a-kind artwork, even when produced as a product line.
In 2020, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare named Matsuoka a "Gendai no Meiko" (Contemporary Master Craftsman)—the youngest recipient that year. This is one of the highest honors the Japanese government bestows on skilled artisans, recognizing individuals whose technical mastery sets the standard for their entire profession. In 2024, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government added to his accolades by designating him a "Tokyo Meister."
Conquering the World's Top Three Design Awards—and 47 More
KOMA's furniture has earned recognition far beyond Japan. In March 2025, Matsuoka received Germany's prestigious "iF Design Award," completing a sweep of what the design world calls the "Big Three": the iF Award (Germany), the Red Dot Award (Germany), and the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA, United States).
But Matsuoka didn't stop there. At the DNA Paris Design Award 2024, his "tie sofa" won the Grand Prix in the Product Design category—the top honor, with only one Grand Prix awarded per category. The same sofa also earned recognition at London's International Creative Competition. Across all competitions, Matsuoka's personal tally reached 50 international design awards spanning 8 countries.
Among KOMA's most celebrated creations is the "cocoda chair," the brand's flagship model. Rather than designing storage furniture as a conventional box, the "cocoda" series borrows structural principles from chair design—using legs and frames to create three-dimensional forms that are strikingly unusual for cabinets and sideboards. The "tie sofa" reimagines the sofa not as a piece of seating but as a spatial element that shapes the relationships between the people who use it.
Matsuoka also designed the Symbol Furniture for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, bringing Japanese woodworking to the world's largest sporting stage.
"Design Is About Fulfilling Purpose"
At the heart of Matsuoka's work is a conviction that might surprise those who expect Japanese craft to be about ornament: "Design means fulfilling a purpose." He doesn't start by sketching beautiful shapes. He starts by asking what the furniture is for. Is this chair for dining? For relaxing? For working at a desk? The answer determines everything.
This process-driven approach leads to an unexpected outcome: when function is pursued to its absolute limit, beautiful form emerges naturally. The aesthetic appeal of KOMA furniture isn't applied decoration—it's the inevitable result of deeply considered ergonomics and material understanding.
The crafting process itself relies on traditional Japanese hand tools—planes ("kanna") and blades that Matsuoka calls his "treasures." Each surface is shaved by hand, stroke by stroke, producing a smoothness and tactile warmth that machine sanding simply cannot replicate. Visitors to the Musashimurayama workshop often remark on the sheer volume of wood shavings produced—enormous bags, three or four at a time, a testament to how much material is removed by hand in pursuit of the perfect curve.
KOMA chairs start at around $1,300, with sofas exceeding $12,700—prices that reflect the reality that each piece is individually handcrafted. The brand operates flagship stores in Ogikubo (Suginami) and Aoyama (Minato) in Tokyo, and ships worldwide.
"Keinen-Bika": The Philosophy That Turned Heads in America
One of the most compelling voices championing KOMA and Japanese craftsmanship abroad is Ryuun Tsukahara, a Gen-Z entrepreneur born in 2000. After enrolling at an American university, Tsukahara had a revelation during a class presentation about consumer culture. He introduced a Japanese concept called "keinen-bika"—literally, "beauty through aging."
While Western consumer culture often frames aging as deterioration ("keinen-rekka" in Japanese), Japanese traditional crafts embody the opposite: objects become more beautiful, more characterful, and more beloved the longer they are used. When Tsukahara presented this idea to his American classmates and professors, the response was immediate and enthusiastic. "That's such an advanced way of thinking," they said. "That's sustainability at its most beautiful." In that moment, Japanese craft was no longer seen as a quaint cultural tradition—it was recognized as a forward-looking philosophy for a world drowning in disposable goods.
Tsukahara went on to found KASASAGI in 2020, a company that bridges traditional Japanese craft and modern business. He was selected for Forbes JAPAN's "CULTURE-PRENEURS 30" list, appeared on major Japanese television programs, and in 2025 established KASASAGI STUDIO, an architecture firm that integrates traditional craft techniques into contemporary building design—a field he calls "Kogei Architecture." KASASAGI's own office furniture is entirely custom-made by KOMA, including a table crafted from "jindai keyaki"—zelkova wood that spent over 1,000 years buried underground, a material of extraordinary rarity and beauty.
Building a Future Where Craftspeople Can Thrive
KOMA draws visitors from across Japan not just for its furniture, but for its management philosophy. In the traditional craft world, artisans often work in isolation, and many struggle financially. Matsuoka has built something different: a team-based workshop where roughly 20 craftspeople collaborate under the motto "A company is made of its people."
What sets KOMA apart is its emphasis on each artisan's "producing power"—not just the ability to make excellent things, but the ability to communicate that excellence to the market. Founding member Toshihiro Kamei launched "Bespoke Case," a luxury watch case brand using rare woods. A staff member trained at Tokyo University of the Arts brings contemporary art sensibilities to furniture design. Each individual's strengths become part of KOMA's collective identity.
Collaborations extend beyond the workshop. KOMA works with "carpenter artists" like Shohei Hishida, whose buildings fuse Japanese and European traditional construction methods. These cross-disciplinary partnerships open new markets and new forms of expression for traditional woodworking.
This model addresses one of the most persistent challenges in Japanese craft: the difficulty of making a sustainable living. When artisans can't earn enough, skills disappear within a generation. KOMA offers a counter-narrative—proof that world-class handcraft can also be a viable business.
Furniture That Outlives Its Maker
Matsuoka has said in multiple interviews: "I want to create furniture that people recognize as excellent no matter how the times change, no matter who is looking at it. Furniture whose value is still acknowledged 100 years after I'm gone."
This ambition speaks to a broader reality facing Japanese traditional craft. Artisans are aging, successors are scarce, and cheap industrial alternatives are everywhere. KOMA's answer is to compete not on price but on an entirely different axis: irreplaceable quality rooted in human skill and natural materials.
In an era of mass production, hand-finished furniture carries something factory-made pieces cannot—the dimension of time. Wood grain shifts and deepens with years of use. The surface develops a patina unique to its owner's touch. The piece doesn't just age; it grows alongside the person who lives with it. This is "keinen-bika" in its purest form, and it may be the most compelling argument Japanese woodworking offers to the world.
In Japan, the idea of "growing" an object rather than "consuming" it is deeply embedded in craft culture. Does your country have a tradition of craftsmanship where objects become more beautiful with use? We'd love to hear about the artisan culture in your part of the world.
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Reactions in Japan
I tried a KOMA chair at their Aoyama store, and the moment I sat down I instinctively knew—this is a chair you could sit in for 12 hours without fatigue. I went home after seeing the price, but came back three days later and bought it. Zero regrets.
Sweeping the world's three major design awards is monumental in the furniture industry, but it's barely covered in Japanese media. Instead of endlessly featuring Scandinavian furniture, I wish they'd spotlight our own craftspeople more.
I used Tsukahara Ryuun's 'keinen-bika' concept in a university presentation and my professor was fascinated. Apparently framing Japanese craft in a sustainability context felt fresh. Honestly grateful that a Gen-Z entrepreneur is putting traditional craft into modern language.
Honestly, over $1,300 for a single chair is tough for regular households. The craftsmanship is undeniably amazing, but if only a limited number of people can afford it, traditional craft won't reach a broader audience. I think there's room for a more accessible line.
A 20-person workshop sweeping all three major world design awards sounds like something out of a manga. Major manufacturers do this with hundreds of staff. Japan's strength is competing on the quality of each individual stroke, not on scale.
As a fellow woodworker, I truly respect him. But the phrase 'Japanese woodworking can be the best in the world' gives me pause. It's KOMA that can reach those heights, not the industry as a whole. Rural workshops are closing left and right, and I wish people knew that reality too.
KOMA furniture looks beautiful in photos, but the smoothness when you actually touch it is on another level. Apparently a hand-planed wood surface is completely different from sandpaper finishing. This is a value you can only understand by touching it—definitely visit their Ogikubo or Aoyama shop.
More people should know that Matsuoka made the Symbol Furniture for the Tokyo Olympics. The significance of handcrafted furniture being chosen for a stage representing the nation is huge. It's unfortunate that this story got buried among other Olympic coverage.
Tsukahara's approach of framing 'keinen-bika' within sustainability is brilliant. However, one-of-a-kind high-end pieces alone don't fully qualify as 'sustainable consumption.' The next challenge is figuring out how to democratize this craftsmanship.
As a hobbyist woodworker, just watching Matsuoka use a hand plane gives me goosebumps. Achieving those curves with hand tools alone is truly divine skill. It's a level I couldn't reach in 10 years, but just seeing the direction to aim for makes me happy.
KOMA's business model is fascinating. It's neither a solo 'artist studio' nor a 'manufacturer'—it occupies the middle ground, balancing one-of-a-kind quality with consistent production volume. Including the Tama Shinkin Bank support story, this is textbook material for small business management.
I bought the book because I was intrigued that Tsukahara is both a Buddhist monk and an entrepreneur. Reading it, I was genuinely moved by the 'keinen-bika' philosophy. I'd been unsure about pursuing traditional crafts, but now I feel there's real potential.
I've always been into Scandinavian furniture—Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl—but discovering KOMA's chairs was a shock. I had no idea Japan had chair makers at this level. And the fact that one person handles everything from design to production is incredible.
50 design awards sounds impressive by number alone, but there are tons of design awards out there. What really matters is sweeping the Big Three and the Paris Grand Prix. The fact that he's won those is undeniably incredible.
KOMA furniture is honestly a stretch for families with kids... But if you think '100-year furniture,' it means passing it down to grandchildren. Scandinavian countries have a culture of inheriting grandparents' furniture—I hope that kind of mindset develops in Japan too.
Matsuoka's work doesn't fit neatly into the 'traditional craft' category. It's more of a fusion of Japan's hand-tool culture and contemporary design. Those of us on the traditional side also need to develop the ability to communicate globally through design language, as he does.
In Sweden, Scandinavian furniture is so ubiquitous that it's lost its novelty. KOMA's 'functional beauty' shares philosophy with Nordic design, but the hand-tool finishing puts it in a clearly different league. Maybe the spiritual successor to Wegner was in Japan all along.
The American furniture market is dominated by cheap imports, and handmade furniture is a total niche. But brands like KOMA winning major design awards could gradually bring back the awareness that handcraft deserves fair compensation.
I didn't even know about the Grand Prix at the DNA Paris Design Award. Almost embarrassing as a French person. That said, European artisan culture is also on life support, and I'm very interested in KOMA's management model as a methodology for building a society where craftspeople can make a living.
I've rarely heard of a Japanese furniture workshop winning both the iF Award and Red Dot Award—and a 20-person atelier at that. Germany has a massive furniture industry, but a Japanese workshop competing at the global level at this scale is both a threat and an inspiration.
India has a rich tradition of wood carving too, yet it barely registers in the context of international design awards. Japanese craftspeople have the ability to translate traditional skills into a global design language. There's a lot Indian artisans could learn from this approach.
The 'keinen-bika' concept is interesting, but I also think it's partly clever marketing. Any wooden furniture can last with proper care—it's not exclusively a Japanese thing. That said, the ability to articulate it as a philosophy is something I respect.
Mexico has wonderful woodworking traditions too. Oaxacan artisans have generational skills, but our international visibility is drastically weak. We could use the branding wisdom of strategically leveraging design awards the way KOMA does.
As a furniture maker, let me say that starting at $1,300 is actually surprisingly affordable. If you commissioned equivalent quality from an American custom furniture shop, you'd easily pay 2-3 times that. Japanese craftspeople are underpricing their own work.
As a Japanese-American, news like this makes me incredibly proud. But honestly, I might know more about KOMA than Japanese people living in Japan. Their domestic promotion feels lacking.
Ghana has a tradition of stools carved with Adinkra symbols, used by royalty in ceremonies, but they've been reduced to tourist souvenirs now. KOMA's approach of positioning craft between 'daily use' and 'art' could be applicable to African craftsmanship too.
A Gen-Z entrepreneur who's also a Buddhist monk is incomprehensible to French sensibilities (laughs). But reading his book, I realized 'keinen-bika' connects to the Buddhist concept of impermanence. It might be a perspective that consumption-weary Western society needs.
Italy's furniture industry is polarized between large manufacturers and individual artisan workshops. KOMA's 'competing globally with 20 people' middle model is a relevant business case for Italian small workshops too. The team-based branding approach is especially interesting.
China has Ming-dynasty furniture, a woodworking tradition respected worldwide. But modern Chinese furniture has completely shifted to mass production. It's regrettable that China doesn't have craftsmen like Matsuoka who maintain handcraft while earning international recognition.
The spirit of Britain's Arts and Crafts Movement might be living on in its purest form in Japan, 150 years later. I think William Morris would weep with joy if he could see this.
Korea has palace furniture traditions too, but there's virtually no outreach targeting international design awards. KOMA's strategy isn't about winning awards per se—it's about using awards to communicate the value of Japanese handcraft to the world. This mindset difference is what creates the difference in results.