I want to tell you plainly what happened. Not to sell you something. Just so you know.
In front of me is a zushi-style Soka Gakkai altar, No. 1383, made by Kongō. Ebony veneer on the outside. Solid ebony carving. Inside, the whole chamber is covered in gold leaf — even the inner face of the outer doors. The doors open by remote control.
▲ The narration is in Japanese. Watch the doors, and the gold inside.
The workshop that sliced ebony has closed
Ebony grows slowly. Three hundred years, in Indonesia and nearby. It used to come to Japan as whole logs. Later, as boards.
This year I was told that the company in Japan that sliced those boards into thin veneer has gone out of business. Ebony is hard wood. To cut it thin you need the machines, and you need the hands. Nobody here takes that work now.
So ebony-veneer altars will quietly disappear from this trade. When a customer asks me to build a Kokū Zushi in ebony, I cannot answer them. That is where we are.
Gold, and carving, and the same conclusion
Gold moves freely around the world. But the price keeps climbing. Building this specification again — full gold leaf, inner doors included — is no longer realistic.
Ebony: you cannot find it. Gold: you can find it, but the number stops you. Different roads. Same ending.
And the carving. Kongō made this in their traditional style, and altars carved this way are not being made now. This model was limited. I believe this is the last of them.
For the one who will chant here
I do not push anything on anyone. I would rather this altar go to a person who has already decided something.
That in front of this altar, daimoku will rise. That they will chant here with everything they have. If that is you, I want you to have it.
It is a used altar. We hide nothing about its condition. Size, price, condition — all of it is on the product page. Look closely, then decide.
Zushi-style Soka Gakkai altar, pre-owned (A grade)
No. 1383 — Kongō
Ebony veneer / solid carving / full gold leaf / remote-opening doors
▶ See this altar (stock, price, condition)
One piece only. It may already be gone.
We will keep telling you what is happening
Materials run out. The people who work them stop. The makers who could build these grow fewer. It is a sad thing to write. But turning away does not change it.
If this is the altar you have been waiting for, this may be the last time you see one. That is all I can honestly say.
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