Boxes Uniformly Coated in Persimmon Tannin

When I visited antique dealer Motoki Moriguchi after hearing him say, "I acquired some wooden boxes that used to hold old Japanese-bound books," I found a warehouse stacked with boxes covered in washi paper, just like in the photo.

Each box differs in size and construction, and the paper used varies, yet all are uniformly coated in persimmon tannin. They likely originate from the same place and were probably made by a single craftsman. When a few of them are selected and arranged together, these unassuming individual boxes transform into a mysterious collection, as if each one tells its own story.