Tansu (merchant chest)

[wanderingshonin]

Hajimehashite. Namae mo nai boku. (haven’t found a name yet.) Yoroshiku.
Most honorable members of this forum I have a question to ask, does anyone here has made or has a good idea on creating a tansu (merchant chest) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tansuor more likely a kakesuzuri (small chest with drawers)? When I am finally able to rejoin the SCA, I was hoping to make my new persona a traveling merchant. I have looked up how much one of these would cost, but alas, it would cost more than my car, making it hard to take to camp and such. So does anyone have ideas? Domo arigato for future help in this.

Most respectfully, the wandering shonin

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! It sounds like you would be much better off with a "tabidansu" which is a wooden chest designed to be worn on the back. There were even people who were set up with portable tea vending equipment. However, I am not sure how much there was in the way of traveling merchants in Japan, but I suppose that they must have existed. Regardless, the picture which you show is for a rather large non-portable tansu. Some time ago, I posted a detail from a period illustration showing wooden tabidansu carried on the back. You may be able to find it if you rummage around on this web site.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Many tansu are made of kiri (paulonia wood) which is extremely light - as in lighter than pine. I have two two-drawer units of a tansu that weigh about what a styrofoam cooler would. Each is equipped with handles that lift up so a porter pole can be slid through them for transport:
www.wodefordhall.com/tansu2.jpg
www.wodefordhall.com/tansu2.jpg

And no, it does NOT come to events.

I use this for my camp box:
wodefordhall.com/sugoroku.htm

This gentleman has a tabidansu he uses at Pennsic. You might try emailing him: kuji.windycitywizard.com/persona.htm

[Deleted]

If you can't get paulownia wood, I recommend using poplar. I did some research on strength to weight ratios, and while paulownia is #1 and balsa is #2, poplar is #3. It's widely available in various sizes at large chain stores, and some stores even carry it in 1/4" thickness which will cut the weight of your finished project considerably.

The tabidansu seems pretty straightforward. Mostly straight cuts and minimal hardware. The tough parts look like the slots for the front "lid" to slide in, and the raised panel construction most seem to use for that lid.

For camping, though, I'm still a big fan of karabitsu. Their footed design keeps your stuff up off the ground, and the flat lid means you can leave them out in the rain. They make great impromptu seats and tables, and the lids can be used as serving trays.

[Saionji Shonagon]

There are four gorgeous Momoyama karabitsu here:

www.scalarchives.it/web/ricerca_risultati.asp?SC_NDD=&ricerca_s=karabitsu&andor=and&andnot=

(Want.... Any of them. All of them.... Sigh.)

[Deleted]

If I'm reading those tittolos correctly, all four of them are made of paulownia, too. Sigh. I'll admit that I've considered getting some styrofoam insulation sheets and veneering them to approximate paulownia. There's actually a specialty lumber company half a day's drive away that says they have paulownia. I keep meaning to go out there.

[Saionji Shonagon]

"Kiri" being the give-away. ;-D

[wanderingshonin]

Thank you for your ideas and help. Makiwara-san, that box that you made is very beautiful. Thank you everyone.