Kajihara Seisakusho Co., Ltd.
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Takaoka-based bronze and aluminum casting atelier crafting statues, monuments, temple fittings, and public art since 1902.
Last updated September 29, 2026
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Overview
Kajihara Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (株式会社 梶原製作所) is a Japanese metal-casting company headquartered in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, a city long associated with the Takaoka copperware (高岡銅器) craft tradition. The firm traces its origins to 1902 (Meiji 35), when it was founded as a workshop for copper casting using fired-mold, lost-wax, and double-mold techniques. Over more than a century it has grown into a specialist atelier that handles the entire production chain for large-scale bronze and aluminum works — from planning and design through detailed engineering, casting, finishing, and on-site installation. The company's core business is the planning and production of bronze statues and busts, monuments, and public art, alongside large-scale casting, nameplates, temple bells (bonshō), and Buddhist altar implements. Its product range also includes shrine and temple fittings such as lanterns, incense burners, water basins, sacred jewels, sōrin finials, and bells. Its casting technologies include the CO2 process (gas-mold casting), double-mold casting, and self-hardening mold casting, supported by four melting furnaces, MIG welding machines, and large lathes capable of turning diameters up to two meters. Kajihara Seisakusho is a private, family-run manufacturer rather than a listed corporation. Its representative director is Toshiharu Kajihara (梶原壽治), and the company uses the studio name Kajihara Kōzan (梶原幸山). It operates a main factory in Yokota-machi, Takaoka, and a second factory in Namioka, Takaoka. The firm is known for restoration and repair work on culturally significant objects as well as for new commissions, and it has been featured in Japanese media and craft-promotion projects, including NHK's "Shin Project X" and the DENSAN traditional-industry series. Because it works on Buddhist statuary, temple architecture, and public monuments, the company positions itself at the intersection of traditional craft and modern design. Its stated aim is to help create beautiful, spacious environments through metal casting, combining inherited techniques with contemporary design proposals. Its clientele includes temples, shrines, municipalities, museums, and organizations commissioning commemorative statues and monuments across Japan.
History
Kajihara Seisakusho was founded in 1902 (Meiji 35) in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, as a copper-casting business using fired-mold, lost-wax, and double-mold techniques. Takaoka had been a center of copperware production since the early Edo period, and the new workshop joined a dense local ecosystem of casters, metal finishers, and Buddhist altar-fittings makers. Through the twentieth century the company built a portfolio of large-scale commissions for temples, shrines, municipalities, and public institutions across Japan. In 1935 (Shōwa 10) it produced repair work for the central pagoda's sōrin finial at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya (Wakayama Prefecture). In 1961 (Shōwa 36) it made more than eighty six-shaku onigawara roof tiles and related pieces for Nagoya Castle (Aichi Prefecture). In 1968 (Shōwa 43) it produced the large lanterns for the main gate of Naritasan Shinshō-ji (Chiba Prefecture) and a pair of six-shaku guardian lion-dog statues for Dazaifu Tenmangū (Fukuoka Prefecture). The 1970s brought further high-profile work: in 1969 (Shōwa 44) a 3.5-meter statue of Kuroda Kanbei's warrior figure in front of Hakata Station (Fukuoka Prefecture); in 1970 (Shōwa 45) the Sapporo Olympics cauldron (Hokkaido) and a 13-shaku great lantern for Zenkō-ji (Nagano Prefecture); in 1973 (Shōwa 48) a pair of ten-shaku hexagonal bronze hanging lanterns for Sensō-ji (Tokyo); in 1976 (Shōwa 51) a fountain for Tsuruma Park (Aichi Prefecture); and in 1980 (Shōwa 55) a Niō statue by Living National Treasure Masahiko Katori for Tōshō-ji (Chiba Prefecture) and a work titled "Bird Poem" for Tsu City Hall (Mie Prefecture). In 1981 (Shōwa 56) the company repaired the Great Buddha of Takaoka and produced a 13-shaku lantern (Toyama Prefecture). In 1986 (Shōwa 61) it made a seated Thousand-Armed Kannon for Daikannon-ji (Mie Prefecture). In 1988 (Shōwa 63) it restored an 11-shaku dragon-coiled lantern for Tsurugi Shrine (Fukui Prefecture). In 1990 (Heisei 2) it produced gate doors for the Tama Imperial Mausoleum of Emperor Shōwa (Tokyo), reorganized as a stock company (kabushiki gaisha), and built a second factory in Namioka, Takaoka. Subsequent decades added more large commissions: in 1992 (Heisei 4) a 17-meter Fujieda Great Kannon for Banjaku-in (Shizuoka Prefecture); in 1994 (Heisei 6) a Bugaku Ranryō-ō statue at Miyajimaguchi for Itsukushima Shrine (Hiroshima Prefecture) and a statue of the 44th yokozuna Tochinishiki for Nihon Taishō-mura (Gifu Prefecture); in 1998 (Heisei 10) restoration of the Five Great Myōō statues for Zuigan-ji (Miyagi Prefecture); in 2000 (Heisei 12) a statue of Zen Master Dōgen for Eihei-ji (Fukui Prefecture) and a 23-meter Kannon for Miroku Aikō-kai (Fukushima Prefecture); in 2004 (Heisei 16) statues of the Akiyama brothers for Tokiwa Dōkyō-kai (Ehime Prefecture); in 2007 (Heisei 19) an Akiba Daigongen statue for Ontake-kyō Keishin Daikyōkai (Gifu Prefecture); in 2008 (Heisei 20) an 8.5-meter sōrin finial for a three-story pagoda at Daiō-in (Gunma Prefecture) and a Giant Dandan for the Anpanman Museum (Kōchi Prefecture); in 2011 (Heisei 23) a goma altar for Fukagawa Fudō (Tokyo); and in 2014 (Heisei 26) a statue of Takenaka Hanbei for Takagi Kōbō (Gifu Prefecture). In the 2010s and 2020s the company also gained visibility through media and craft-promotion projects, including a 2016 Takaoka City promotional video directed by Yojiro Takita, a 2017 Foreign Press Center Japan feature on reproducing the National Treasure Shaka Triad with 3D technology, a 2019 TEWAZA video on Takaoka copper casting, and a 2024 NHK documentary on the restoration of the East Pagoda of Yakushi-ji. Today it remains a private, family-run manufacturer operating from its main factory in Yokota-machi and its Namioka factory in Takaoka.
- 2017
Featured in a Foreign Press Center Japan article on reproducing the National Treasure Shaka Triad with 3D technology.
- 2016
Cooperated on the Takaoka City promotional video "Japan Heritage City Takaoka 2016" directed by Yojiro Takita.
- 2014
Produced a statue of Takenaka Hanbei for Takagi Kōbō (Gifu Prefecture).
- 2011
Produced a goma altar for Fukagawa Fudō (Tokyo).
- 2008
Produced an 8.5-meter sōrin finial for a three-story pagoda at Daiō-in (Gunma Prefecture) and a Giant Dandan for the Anpanman Museum (Kōchi Prefecture).
- 2007
Produced an Akiba Daigongen statue for Ontake-kyō Keishin Daikyōkai (Gifu Prefecture).
- 2004
Produced statues of the Akiyama brothers for Tokiwa Dōkyō-kai (Ehime Prefecture).
- 2000
Produced a statue of Zen Master Dōgen for Eihei-ji (Fukui Prefecture) and a 23-meter Kannon for Miroku Aikō-kai (Fukushima Prefecture).
- 1998
Restored the Five Great Myōō statues for Zuigan-ji (Miyagi Prefecture).
- 1994
Produced a Bugaku Ranryō-ō statue at Miyajimaguchi for Itsukushima Shrine (Hiroshima Prefecture) and a statue of the 44th yokozuna Tochinishiki for Nihon Taishō-mura (Gifu Prefecture).
Products and positioning
Traditional Takaoka copper-casting craftsmanship combined with modern design and full in-house production, serving temples, municipalities, and public-art clients.
Bronze statues and busts
Monuments and public art
Large-scale bronze and aluminum castings
Nameplates
Temple bells (bonshō)
Buddhist altar implements
Shrine and temple fittings (lanterns, incense burners, water basins, sacred jewels, sōrin finials)
Sources4 sources
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