TANSU - Distinguishing Between Genuine and Imitation
In recent years the success of Japanese furniture has unfortunately given a rise to a market for imitations and for "over-restored" furniture. This regrettable trend is not specific to this type of furniture alone, but applies to all old pieces, wether Asian or European. The most frequently copied pieces are obviously those which are the most commercial or which are expensive to buy. First among these, by far, are kaidan and mizuya dansu, as well as Sendai (isho) dansu with its spectacular ironwork.

Generally speaking, Japanese furniture is not finished on the inside, which is neither varnished nor waxed. When you open a drawer in a piece of Japanese furniture, the wood should be its natural colour and show normal wear (mizuya pieces, used on a daily basis, are more worn, while isho furniture, which is used less frequently, is less so). Both the bottom of the drawer and the board placed beneath it should show signs of wear in the direction in which the drawer moves, as Japanese drawers do not rest on guide bars but are placed on boards which cover the entire base. As these boards are usually made of cedar or cypress, the wood becomes worn very easily, not only as a result of use, but also through age. The drawers are assembled using wooden pegs, sometimes made of bamboo. Rectangular pegs are found in the older pieces or even, more rarely, rectangular or square hand-made nails. During the Meiji period, both the pegs and the nails became round. In the early 20 th century a mixture of industrial metal nails and wooden pegs (particularly in the sides of drawers) may be found.