3 imagesNagoya Butsudan Gold Buddhist Altar, Gobo-zukuri for Shinshu Otani-ha
仏壇 国産 名古屋仏壇 金仏壇 22号 御坊様造り 伝統工芸品 真宗大谷派 東本願寺 向き 特撰 名古屋仏壇
22-go (74 x 70 x 178 cm)和み仏壇 INABA
￥4,180,000
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Nagoya Buddhist altars
Japanese name名古屋仏壇
In Tachibana, Naka-ku, Nagoya butsudan is a household Buddhist altar craft shaped by Kiso hinoki, eight specialist roles, a raised base, and the domestic space of prayer.
Information updated 72 days ago
3 imagesKiso Hinoki and the High Base of Nagoya Butsudan
Nagoya butsudan is a household Buddhist altar craft centered on Nagoya, with its cooperative address in Tachibana 1-chome, Naka-ku. Its shape begins with concrete things: Kiso hinoki, a raised base, mitsumakuri, lacquer, maki-e, metal fittings, gold leaf, and the final assembly of an altar used for prayer. Its Nagoya beginning is traced to 1695, when Takagi Niemon founded the butsudan shop Hiroya; later, skilled workers connected with Higashi Honganji construction helped form the craft base using Kiso hinoki.
A Working Address in Tachibana
Start at Tachibana 1-6-5 in Naka-ku, where the Nagoya Butsudan Shoko Cooperative Association is based. Cooperative members also appear at addresses in Tachibana, Monzencho, Chiyoda, Nakamura Ward, Minami Ward, and other parts of Nagoya. By December 2023, the cooperative had 40 members. Before a finished altar reaches a household, this urban network gives the work its human scale: woodwork, lacquer, metal fittings, maki-e, gold-leaf work, and assembly sit across different shops and specialist hands.
The 1695 Shop and the Kiso Hinoki Route
The Nagoya beginning is traced to Genroku 8, or 1695, when Takagi Niemon founded the butsudan specialty shop Hiroya. The next material anchor is Kiso hinoki. Skilled workers connected with the construction of Higashi Honganji are described as developing the craft with this wood and shaping the foundation that followed. Another local thread runs through the former Owari domain: butsudan production around Nagoya used Kiso hinoki from domain holdings and grew within organized commercial circles. The early outline is therefore made of names and places, not vague age: Nagoya, Hiroya, Higashi Honganji-related craftsmen, Owari, and Kiso hinoki.
A Raised Base Made for Water and Storage
A Nagoya butsudan is known for ornate kuden-gobo-zukuri, a raised base, and mitsumakuri. The high base has a practical reason. It helps protect the altar from flooding and creates space inside the base for arranging and storing ritual implements. This makes the object easier to understand as household furniture for prayer: the carved and lacquered body, the metal fittings, the maki-e, and the gold-leaf work are held by a structure that also answers a daily problem of water and storage.
Eight Roles Inside One Altar
One Nagoya butsudan is made through the collaboration of eight specialist roles. Kijishi handle the wood foundation; shogoshi shape the altar’s solemn interior arrangement; carvers make sculptural details; kazari-kanagushi create decorative metal fittings; lacquerers apply lacquer; maki-e artisans add maki-e work; hakuoki-shi handle gold leaf; and shikumishi complete assembly. The list turns a finished altar back into visible work surfaces: wood, carving, metal, lacquer, maki-e, gold leaf, and joining all meet before the altar becomes a place for a Buddha image and ancestor tablets.
Prayer, Buddha Image, and Ancestor Tablets
Inside a home, the butsudan is used for prayer. It houses a small Buddha statue and memorial tablets inscribed with ancestors’ names. That use gives the craft its scale: Kiso hinoki becomes a cabinet-like body, the raised base holds ritual implements, and the gold-leaf and lacquer details face a person standing or sitting in prayer. The local character of Nagoya butsudan is therefore concrete: shops and craftspeople in places such as Tachibana turn woodwork, lacquer, metal fittings, maki-e, and gold leaf into furniture for household remembrance.
When Workshop Steps Move Into Public View
Some steps usually hidden in workshops have been shown in a public Nagoya setting. At the Owari Nagoya craft exhibition in Oasis 21’s Galaxy Plaza, the Nagoya Butsudan Shoko Cooperative Association presented manufacturing-process displays, craftsperson demonstrations, and hands-on experiences. For visitors, terms such as woodwork, carving, lacquer, metal fittings, maki-e, gold-leaf work, and assembly could be seen as hands and materials in sequence, rather than only as names attached to a finished altar.
The clearest outline of Nagoya butsudan sits between an address in Tachibana, the 1695 Hiroya beginning, Kiso hinoki, a raised base, mitsumakuri, and eight specialist roles. It is a household Buddhist altar used for prayer, and it is also a Nagoya craft form shaped by Owari material routes and the practical needs of home worship. When a butsudan holds a small Buddha statue and ancestor tablets, the woodwork, lacquer, metal fittings, maki-e, and gold leaf form one steady place for daily prayer.
Compiled from public records and official sources; see the recognition links below. Details may change over time.
Recognition & registration
Where this selection is officially registered, designated, or recognized in Japan.
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