Side Table, model “Zataku”
Manufactured by Tendo Mokko
Japan, 1960
Keyaki veneer plywood

Measurements
60 x 36 x 45h cm
23,7 x 14,2 x 17,8h in

Provenance
Private collection, Tokyo

Literature
Design Japonais 1950-1995, exhibition catalogue, Editions du Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1996, p. 76
Tendo in Japanese Modern, edited by Tendo Mokko, Tokyo, 2020, p. 215


Details
The Zataku side table by Saburo Inui is a study in restraint and refinement, a meditation in wood rendered into functional form. At first glance, it appears deceptively simple: a square surface supported by subtly splayed legs. Yet this simplicity is deliberate, a conscious pursuit of the Japanese aesthetic principle of “shibui”—the understated elegance that emerges when every line, curve, and proportion is considered with intention.
Crafted from keyaki veneer, the table’s surface possesses a quiet luminosity. Its grain, alive with gentle undulations, captures and diffuses light in a way that transforms its everyday utility into a perceptual experience. Each leg, sculpted with meticulous care, curves with an organic fluidity, subtly resisting the rigidity of industrial form. Inui’s hand is evident in the dialogue between structural necessity and aesthetic poetry, a balance that elevates the table beyond mere furniture into the realm of contemplative object.
The Zataku embodies a philosophy of interaction. It is human-scaled, inviting proximity rather than commanding dominance, encouraging the user to engage with its surface, to feel its warmth, and to inhabit its presence.
Inui’s design, while modern in its minimalism, is deeply rooted in traditional Japanese woodworking, reflecting a reverence for material integrity, handcraft, and subtle imperfection.

About Tendo Mokko
In northwest Japan, in Yamagata Prefecture, a group of carpenters and joiners created a cooperative that primarily produced wooden objects, ammunition and supply crates for the army. Incorporated in 1942, the cooperative worked with the Sendai Institute of Industrial Arts and used the new molded plywood technology to make decoy aircraft. After the war, Tendo opened an office in Tokyo (1947). It produced furniture for the occupying troops, then turned, in the early 1950s, to furniture for the domestic market One of his first commissions came from the architect Kenzo Tange, who designed plywood seats for the Ehime Prefecture, built in 1953. Plywood was then a new material for designers, and Tendo was one of the first manufacturers to use it for its furniture, notably for the Butterfly stool, created in 1956 by Sori Yanagi. Tendo's policy of paying royalties for design projects attracted many other designers, so much so that, in the sixties, Tendo could boast among its ranks the leading furniture designers Isamu Kenmochi, Daisaku Choh, Riki Watanabe, whose creations are still produced. In addition, Tendo encouraged young designers by funding an annual competition from 1960 to 1967 and by manufacturing some of the winning designs itself, such as Reiko Tanabe's plywood chair. In 1964, Tendo received the Mainichi Prize for Industrial Design for its pivotal role in furniture manufacturing.

Biography
Saburo Inui (b. 1920 – d. 1982) was a Japanese designer and architect whose work emerged during a transformative period in postwar Japan, marked by rapid modernization and a renewed search for national identity through design. Educated at the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts, Inui was part of a generation of creatives who redefined Japanese aesthetics by blending traditional craft sensibilities with modern industrial materials.
Inui’s most iconic design is the Ply Chair, originally conceived in 1959. While best known in its molded plywood version—still in production by Tendo Mokko—Inui also experimented with highly limited editions in acrylic. The rare transparent model, manufactured only for one year in 1970, is a striking example of the Japanese avant-garde approach to materials and transparency, aligning with global modernist trends while retaining a minimalist, organic sensibility. The clear shell allowed the chair’s sculptural form and construction logic to remain visible, pushing the boundaries of functional art.
Inui was also influenced by the political and social shifts of the 1960s and 70s in Japan, a time when design was seen not only as aesthetic production but as a cultural statement. His work resonates with the goals of the Metabolist movement—a group of architects and designers who imagined modular, flexible urban systems—although Inui’s designs were more introspective and focused on domestic scale. Still, he shared their vision of a future shaped by innovation, structure, and the integration of new technologies.
Collaborating closely with Tendo Mokko, a pioneering manufacturer known for its partnerships with architects such as Sori Yanagi and Kenzo Tange, Inui helped define a new direction in postwar Japanese furniture: democratic, elegant, and technically refined. His work continues to be collected internationally and serves as a key reference in the study of 20th-century Japanese design.