Vintage Japanese Choba Tansu Merchant Chest With Yokozan Style Hikido Sliding Door And Multi-sized Drawers - 1970s Showa Era (25D-D004)

Vintage Japanese Choba Tansu Merchant Chest With Yokozan Style Hikido Sliding Door And Multi Sized Drawers, 1960s (SKU 25D-D004)

Showa-era choba tansu with yokozan-style hikido and an elegant grid of multi-sized drawers.

This classic choba tansu (merchant’s chest) was designed for the bustling machiya shopfronts of early 20th-century Japan, where it stored ledgers, seals, and valuables behind orderly rows of drawers and sliding doors. Crafted in hinoki (Japanese cypress) and warm sugi (Japanese cedar) with a clear, even grain, it features a distinctive yokozan-style hikido: louvered sliding doors that allow air to circulate while keeping contents discreetly veiled.

The façade is organized with great precision—an upper full-width drawer, central sliding doors, and an asymmetrical composition of small and medium drawers, all fitted with forged iron warabite-style pulls and lockplates. Additional louvered doors at the base and an open bay offer versatile storage and display, making this vintage Japanese merchant chest both a functional storage solution and a strong architectural statement in contemporary interiors.

• Origin: Japan
• Era: Showa period (1960s)
• Material: Hinoki (Japanese cypredd) and Sugi (Japanese cedar) with forged iron hardware
• Use: Traditional choba tansu storage for a merchant’s shop; ideal today as a living room sideboard, entry cabinet, or dining room storage
• Features: Yokozan-style louvered hikido sliding doors, multi-sized drawers including locking drawers, open display compartment, lower sliding doors, original iron pulls and lockplates, warm natural finish
• Dimensions: 35 1/2"W x 15 1/4"D x 38 1/2"H
• Condition: Excellent

A refined example of Showa-period design, this choba tansu brings the quiet order of a Japanese merchant’s house into any modern space.

We use professional studio lighting to highlight the natural character of the wood. As a result, the tone may appear slightly warmer than under natural daylight.

All vintage and antique items are sold as-is. Each piece may exhibit signs of age, including scratches, wear, or minor imperfections. These are not considered defects but natural evidence of the item’s authenticity and age.