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Kasukabe Kiri Tansu (Paulownia chest of drawers) kiri tansu main producing districts:Kasukabe History and Features The making Tansu out of paulownia in Kasukabe district is said to have begun at the beginning of the Edo era (1603-1867), when some highly skilled craftsmen taking part in the building of Nikko Toshogu Shrine, settled in Kasukabe. They began to use paulownia trees to make articles of durable quality such as Nagamochi (Japanese long chest), Sashimono (Cabinet work) etc.. Kiri-Tansu are known for the following distinctive features: their lightness, their impervious nature to atmospheric moisture and the ease in which they can be made.