Odate Magewappa – Akita Prefectural Crafts

Magewappa (曲げわっぱ) is a traditional woodcraft created in Odate City, Akita Prefecture, Japan. Its history dates back more than 1,300 years when loggers began bending wooden boards to make containers. Akita cedar is used as the main material, especially those over 100 years old, as they have a very beautiful and particular shine. This wood is very flexible and hardly warps and with these qualities, the wood is perfect for making containers, including bento boxes.

In the Edo period, that is, from the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century in Japanese history, Magewappa became an important industry for the city of Odate. The samurai produced Magewappa as a side job and sold the products to different domains.

Being made of organic material (wood) their light aroma perfectly complements Japanese food. For its creation, craftsmen first cut Akita cedar and make thin boards. This process requires great skill as each board must be the same thickness. They then boil the wood to gain its flexibility by putting them into molds to make the rounded shape so characteristic of these vessels. It is left to dry and then the boards are joined by “sewing” with cherry bark.

The wood of the Odate cedars not only has a pleasant aroma but is also good at absorbing moisture effectively. When you put foods like vegetables and rice that have some moisture in the bento box, the cedar absorbs the moisture and keeps the flavor of the food.

The Magewappa of Odate, are the perfect example that the simple is beautiful since this craft makes the most of the fine wood with its fresh coloration combined with its lightness. They produce rice buckets, water jugs, trays of various kinds, bento boxes, and even coffee cups and beer mugs. All of them are precious examples of simple craftsmanship.

We leave you a video so you can appreciate the manufacturing process in more detail!