Kanazawa is a place were a Buddhist sect called Jodo Shinshu is widely spread, so one can say that a demand of home altars was extremely high compared to other regions.

They started to do serious altar-making at the time of third head of Kaga clan, Maeda Toshitsune. At that time famous masters were called from Edo and Kyoto to work in Kaga clan's workshops, and the bases of art crafts were established. Since then a lot of craftsmen came to live here, and the process of making of altars was divided between different masters: carpenters, painters, gold-lacquers and carvers.

Kanazawa was also a birth-place of golden foliage gilding technique, so Kanazawa's home altars became to be richly decorated with lacquered designs of golden leaf and golden powder.

Lately the demand for home altars has decreased, and so they started making "Karakuri altars" that can be rotated to turn into a versatile-use space. It can be turned according to user's needs, combining two functions in one thing. Thus a development of products for nowadays life is made.]