| Tansu Japanese mobile storage chests built to store most items used in personal and business life from early Edo period through the Meiji era. When another noun is placed before the word Tansu to specify the type or use of cabinet the word changes to "Dansu". |
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| Mizuya Dansu Kitchen chest used to store kitchen utensils and food. This multi-function chest was constructed usually in two sections and was kept adjacent to the kitchen. Lattice work on slider is for air circulation to keep food as cool as possible. |
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| Choba Dansu Shops accounting chest used in conjunction with shop administration. It was constructed of fine woods in combination of substantial iron hardware in order to convey an impression of prosperity and reliability. |
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| Cha Dansu Portable cabinet for the storage of tea-ceremony utensils. Often a finely crafted piece mostly made in twentieth century. It often has a drop-fit Kendon-Buta door and a split-level shelf called a chigai dana. |
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| Isho Dansu Clothing chest with multiple drawers. Usually in 2 stacking pieces and often with ornate hardware and iron carrying handles for transport with 2 men and a pole passed through the handles. The pole is rested on the shoulder. |
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| Getabako Shoe chest which was kept by entrance of a house. Geta is Japanese wooden sandals. These cabinets sometimes also were used to store umbrellas. |
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| Kuruma Dansu Wheeled chests, the construction of which was prohibited in Edo (Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto in 1683. The prohibition was due to the practice of wheeling the cabinet into the road during a fire hampering the fire wagons. Rare collector item. |
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| Ko Dansu Small chest for personal effects. The Temoto Dansu is one of the most well known Ko Dansu used by Samurai women in the privacy of their room. Because Temoto are very small, for personal use, and only rarely moved about, they tend to reflect a refined and feminine character. |
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| Funa Dansu Sea chest used as a safe to keep ship's papers, account books, money and clothing. Only captains and ship owners could possess them. They were built to float just below the surface of water so attacking pirates would not find it if it was thrown overboard. |
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| Katana Dansu Tansu used for storing sword blades without hilts and scabbards. Usually made of paulownia (kiri) wood with one or several small lockable drawers to accommodate sword fittings. |
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| Kaidan Dansu Stair cabinets actually used as stairs from first floor to sleeping areas. These are the most popular reproduction tansu made all over Asia. These were often the exception to the rule of tansu being movable. Many were built-in and too large to carry. |
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Eras Edo: 1603-1868, Meiji: 1868-1912, Taisho: 1912-1926, Showa: 1926-1989, Heisei: 1989-present. | |
| Regional Tansu Sendai Dansu Sendai is the coastal city on the Pacific ocean in northern Japan. Miyagi prefecture. Sakata Dansu Sakata is the coastal city on the Japan Sea in northern Japan. Yamagata prefecture. Sado Dansu Sado is an island in the Japan Sea in northern Japan. Niigata prefecture. Yonezawa Dansu Yonezawa is an inland city in northern Japan. Yamagata prefecture. Nihonmatsu Dansu Nihonmatsu is an inland city in northern Japan. Fukushima prefecture. |
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| Japanese Wood Kiri (paulownia), a softwood highly prized by the Japanese for cabinetry because of its flexibility, tone, and texture. It is known to have higher burning temperature than other wood and is stable in humid conditions. Sugi (cryptomeria / cedar), a non-resinous conifer used extensively as secondary wood for tops and sides of case pieces with hardwood-faced drawers. Matsu (pine), because the sapwood resin continued to be secreted even after long periods of air drying, pine was generally not favored as Tansu wood with few a exceptions of farmer's Mizuya and Kuruma Dansu from countryside. Keyaki (zelkova), a hardwood related to the elm with bold grain and used in Tansu as both primary and secondary ornamental wood. Hinoki (cypress), an aromatic conifer often used for framework of some merchant chests and Mizuya. It was traditionally used for the foundations of buildings and bathtubs because of its water resistant characteristic. Kuri (Japanese chestnut), quite similar to the North American tree. It was used interchangeably with Keyaki in Tansu but has a less pronounced grain. Kaki (Persimmon), a hardwood in ebony wood family with brown and black contrast grain and used for paneling and decorative details. Nara (oak). Tamo (white ash). |
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