This Christmas my sister-in-law gave me a Sasano-Bori carving of a hawk (Otaka poppo).
Sasano-Bori is a carving technique from Yonezawa Japan. Each carving is made from a single piece of wood, and carved with a single tool–the Sarukiri.
The carving style dates back to the 9th Daimyo of Yonezawa: Uesugi Harunori. The town of Yonezawa had been in debt for roughly a hundred years when Harunori was appointed. Tradition has it that he encouraged the farmers to produce these carvings in winter so that they could be sold to pay off the debt. The success of the initiative made Sasano-Bori carvings “lucky charms” for the Yonezawa business community.
Here is the front of the temple Sasano Kannon:
There is a statue of a Sasano-Bori Hawk just outside the temple.
Here is a short video on the history and importance of the Sasano-Bori technique.
And here you can watch a Sasano-Bori craftsman at work:
If you would like to have one of your own and you can’t make the trip to Japan, here is a place to order it.