Yamakawa Rattan was founded by Hichiro Yamakawa in 1952 in a storage room in the backyard of their home in Tokyo Japan. He started the business to create jobs for his two sons who were both hearing impaired. Both his sons were very apt in using their hands so weaving was suitable. Yuzuru Yamakawa who was fortunate not to have the handicap as his brothers was asked to join the company to help the family in managing the business. He studied at design school at night while working in the business during the day. His efforts and talent made Yamakawa Rattan grow to become one of the most renowned company in Japan specialized in creating high quality design oriented rattan furniture.