Ichii Woodcarving was established by MATSUDA Sukenaga at the later stage of the Edo period (the beginning of the 19th century). Since his family business was the production of chopsticks, he learned carving and became a woodcarver. One day, when he saw a thickly-painted doll made in the Nara region, he felt sorry because the beauty of the wood grain and carving was hidden, which led to the birth of the uncolored Ichii Woodcarving. It is recorded that MATSUDA Sukenaga wanted to make the maximum use of the beauty of natural wood, and continued his research with a focus on ichii wood, which has outstanding attributes such as an attractive wood grain, two distinctive colors, luster, and is easy to carve. Originally he was a netsuke carver, and with the Ichii Woodcarving style he produced a great number of netsuke, a toggle for hanging a small medicine case or the like from an obi band. The superb woodcarving techniques using ichii from Hida spread throughout the region and were developed among the master craftsmen. - Kogeijapan.com