10 Kiri-tansu

　 Is there a tansu（たんす） in your house?　How big is it?What kind of wood is it made of ? How many years have you used it?

Tansu is made of a variety of wood. What wood is the most durable? Paulownia（桐）is one of the best. The paulownia tansu (kiri-tansu) is the strongest and the easiest to use. 　　Most of the kiri-tansu are produced in Kasukabe City. It takes about one year to make one kiri-tansu. The wood of paulownia is soaked with water for 10 days, to remove lye from the wood. After that, they are dried under the sun. When the wood has dried, it is soaked again with water.

　 This is repeated for 10 months. Each kiri-tansu is made very carefully and gently by the craftsmen. Kasukabe City takes orders from all over Japan.

　Why is the kiri-tansu made in Kasukabe City ? 300 years ago Nikko Tosho-gu （日光東照宮）was built by a lot of craftsmen. Some of the craftsmen lived in Kasukabe City , because Kasukabe City is not so far from Nikko . At that time there were a lot of trees of paulownia in Kasukabe City. The craftsmen found them and began making kiri-tansu. Since then, the kiri-tansu has been made in Kasukabe City .

　 Kiri-tansu are beautiful and strong. If you have a daughter, when she gets married in the future, please give kiri-tansu to her. I’m sure she'll be very happy! (235語)

a variety of ~ たくさんの～　 durable 長持ちする　 easy to use 　使いやすい

produce 生産する soak with～　～に浸す

remove 取り除く lye アク dry up 乾燥する carefully 丁寧に

gently 心を込めてtakes an order 注文を受ける craftsmen 職人 since ~ ～以来

アメリカからホームステイしているリサ（Lisa）がホスト・ファザーのタケオさん（Takeo）と縁側でお茶を飲んでいます。
Lisa:	That is a very beautiful tansu.
Takeo:	Yes. I bought it a week ago.
	My daughter will marry next month.
Lisa:	Congratulations! It looks expensive.
Takeo:	...Yes. In Japanese customs, parents give a tansu to their
	daughter when she will get married. But I really wanted to
	buy a kiri-tansu for my lovely daughter. Because it is much
	better than any other tansu. All of the drawers move
	smoothly, because they are very light and flexible. Take out the drawer, please.
Lisa:	Oh wow! I've never seen such a light and smooth drawer. This one is very good.
Takeo:	Recently the weather has been good. So the drawers move very smoothly.
Lisa:	What do you mean?
Takeo:	During the rainy season, the drawers become tight. Then you can't take them out smoothly.
Lisa:	Why?
Takeo:	Because the kiri-tansu is controlling itself to protect clothes inside against moisture.
Lisa:	Unbelievable! Is it growing?
Takeo:	Yes. The kiri-tansu also protects clothes against insects and fire. The insects don't like the fragrance of
	kiri, so they never approach it. Kiri can’t burn easily, so the clothes are protected from fire as well.
Lisa:	The kiri-tansu is the perfect choice!
Takeo:	We can use the kiri-tansu for more than 100 years.
Lisa:	100 years! Is that true?
Takeo:	When the kiri-tansu becomes dirty or a few drawers become warped, craftsmen can refresh it again
	and again.
Lisa:	I want to get a kiri-tansu.
Takeo:	If you have a kiri-tansu, your child and grandchild can use it. When they see the kiri-tansu,
	they will remember you.
Lisa:	That’s great!

expensive 高い　custom 風習 drawer(s) 引き出し　smooth(ly) なめらか（に）

flexible 柔らかい recently 最近　　tight 堅い　control 調節する

protect…against～～から…を守る　moisture 湿気　insect 虫　fragrance 香り　

approach ～に近づく　burn 燃える perfect 完璧な　choice 選択 warped 変形した

refresh よみがえらせる　grandchild 孫