Yohakuwo
Before a meal, lift the four wooden roof pieces off the little house and place them beneath the chopsticks. Stack them again afterward, and the chopstick rests become a house once more. Walnut, cherry, oak, and beech each have their own color. Change the order, and the house takes on a different expression.
These house-shaped chopstick rests come from Yohakuwo, the brand of Japanese woodworker Taro Horikoshi. Its Japanese name is 暮らしの道具 よはくを; in Taiwan, it is known as 余白生活道具. Horikoshi thinks about how an object is picked up and used, but also how it remains in a room afterward. Here, putting the chopstick rests away becomes the most engaging part of the design.
A Sail for the Filter, a Perch for the Shoehorn
The same inventiveness appears in objects for coffee and the entryway. The yotto sailboat coffee filter holder combines an oak hull with brass; insert a filter, and it gains a sail. The paper intended for brewing coffee also helps shape the object. Kept in sight, the filters are easy to reach, and the holder invites a place on the table.
The Tomarigi shoehorn has a place to return to. A magnet inside the maple shoehorn attaches it to a iron stand, like a bird settling on a branch. The arched bentwood handle of the ARCH tissue holder likewise makes the act of lifting and moving tissues part of its form. Horikoshi often begins with these small movements: a tool has a clear place to go, and the room gains something to catch the eye.
From Spatial Design to the Woodworking Shop
Taro Horikoshi studied interior design at Musashino Art University, then entered the woodworking program at the Jonan Vocational Skills Development Center before working in a furniture workshop. Training in both design and making allows him to work on custom furniture and fixtures, or bring that attention down to an object small enough to hold.
His workshop, ホリコシ製作所, is in Tokigawa, Saitama Prefecture. Whether making furniture or everyday tools, he considers where an object sits in a space and how a person approaches, picks it up, and uses it.
Table saws, CNC equipment, and other machinery help with cutting and shaping, keeping dimensions, construction, and repeated production consistent. At the edges and curves, the work returns to his hands. He sands the areas that meet the hand and define the outline, turning lines on a drawing into a wooden object that can be picked up.
The Space in the Name
Horikoshi founded the brand in fall 2017 as Sakenosakana, a name drawn from the Japanese term for food served with drinks. In 2023, he worked with local design company LLC akarito to reshape it as 暮らしの道具 よはくを, or Yohakuwo. Yohaku means open or unfilled space. The brand expresses its direction in one line:
「暮らしにゆとりを、空間に遊び心を。」
“A little room in daily life, a little playfulness in a space.”
That playfulness has a concrete form: chopstick rests that become a house, a boat with a coffee filter for a sail, a shoehorn that returns to its branch. With a little design, an everyday action becomes a reason to pick an object up and take a closer look.
