Any foreigner that has traveled to Japan has often run across this conundrum: you want to buy a souvenir for home, but everything that’s for sale appears to be edible. Sure, there are some kitschy knickknacks, but they are generally pretty tacky. Then you come across some beautiful wooden boxes with some incredibly intricate patterns on it that make you wonder, how in the world do they do that?

Thankfully, here’s a video that shows you how in the world they do that from Japan Traditional Crafts Aoyama Square.

It’s hard not to be amazed by a lot of things in this “behind the scenes” video about Hakone marquetry, originally developed in Kanagawa Prefecture but loved throughout Japan. For one, we love how all the different colors occur naturally in the wood, meaning there is no staining or dyes used to achieve the effect.

Knowing just how these beautiful boxes are made makes us more inclined to look past the price and buy one. They will look stunning in any home and, besides, we need somewhere to put all the kitschy Japanese knickknacks that we bought.

For more information including the store's location and website, click on the full story from RocketNews24 below!

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