Furo denotes traditional Japanese bath, but it is also the name of a two-designer-strong company that designs bath fixtures. Furo: Japanese Authentic Bath showed at this past 2008 Salone, where they displayed diverse and lovely designs meant to revolutionize the entire bath ritual.

Urushi Lacquer Tub. Designed by Yikio Hashimoto. Manufactured by Furo.

In recognizing the lack of options, Furo designer Yukio Hashimoto makes a valid point: “Though bathing helps us to relax and make us forget every day's stress and tension, nonetheless it seems to me that something is missing. If for sofas or other pieces of furniture variations are infinite, when it comes to the bathtub there is not so much to choose about.” Hence, the Urushi Lacquer Tub. Crafted in lacquer, “the fantastic and ecological material created from sap,” the Urushi Tub employs a material that’s come to represent Japan. The deep red color cannot be ignored: it is blood and bloom united in the intensity and vibrancy of its hue. But did you know that lacquer is also resistant to bacteria and can withstand very high temperatures? These characteristics make the material perfect for bathtubs.

Besides conceiving such a beautiful object, there is another important reason to admire Yukio Hashimoto-he seeks to make the bathtub portable: “Wouldn't it be nice, for example, to enjoy the bath in a stand-alone fixture placed in the middle of your living room, or in the garden? My proposal is a bathtub that can be placed everywhere, giving us new ways to enjoy bathing.” And lacquer’s light weight might just allow for such fanciful bathing. Hashimoto and Furo do not merely offer design; they herald metamorphosis. What better place to excite transformation than the bath? The Urushi Lacquer Tub fulfills Hashimoto’s design goal: “to design not the material but the Ambience.”