Matsuoka, a high-end furniture manufacturer based in Fuchu City, Japan, will make its international market debut at High Point Market, Oct. 17-22.

Matsuoka will showcase four new collections in space 408 of the International Home Furnishings Center's Hamilton Wing.

In Japan, 140-year-old Matsuoka is known for customized and superbly finished designs of extreme precision in exotic materials and rare woods.

The manufacturer became Japan's premier maker of traditional "bridal" furniture. As tradition dictated, wealthy or noble parents would approach a respected crafter of fine furniture and request that Paulownia trees be sown so that a magnificent trousseau could be made as a wedding gift.

The company would make meticulously crafted furniture with expressive veneers and beautiful inlays for the parents to present with great fanfare to the newlyweds as a sign of good fortune and happiness in their new life together.

Prominent celebrities, designers and personalities throughout Japan and from international locations began to consult the company to create premium furniture for their own homes and work environments.

Matsuoka has an inventory of more than 70 species of some of the most spectacular decorative veneers and inlays, including what it says is the world's largest collection of exceptional Celebes Ebony harvested more than 35 years ago. Other select wood species include cuts of nacreous and lacey sycamore, expressive bird's eye maple, sumptuous red sandalwood, various rosewoods, walnuts, mahoganies from several continents and African woods.

For cases, Matsuoka also use Paulownia, a fast growing sustainable plant that regenerates in seven to 15 years. Case goods have hand-rubbed finishes containing no VOC's or other toxins that create unsafe or allergenic conditions.

Matsuoka also will debut tailored upholstery to complement the case goods through a partnership with TRS in Thomasville, N.C. TRS, respected among interior designers as a producer of upholstery of uncompromising quality, has a reputation as an independent crafter whose artists ascribe to the same exacting quality requirements as Matsuoka's own artists.

In High Point, Matsuoka will showcase four collections developed directly from its existing portfolio of more than 1,500 designs. The urban sophisticated Midtown and Kotta collections are in exquisite Celebes ebony, mahogany burl and bird's eye maple. Madoka is a bedroom collection with traditional Japanese motifs scaled to western proportions and executed in teak with washi accentuation. The Wabi/Sabi Chigiri collection extends the vocabulary of Japanese styling, scaled to international standards, with superbly crafted pieces in a variety of expressive and rare veneers. These are complemented by a collection of items executed in fallen timber from the ancient 3,000 year old Yakushima forest of "yaku sugi" wood, a magnificent boldly grained material available nowhere else on earth.