Western antique furniture has an ambivalent reputation. Some people are so enchanted with it that they become collectors, while others simply think of it as old, dirty -- and often unreasonably expensive.

But for furniture restorer Tatsuharu Tanaka, 50, antiques are neither luxury nor junk. He regards them rather as raw material of excellent quality. They are, he says, tools to help make life more relaxed and comfortable.

"The quality of wood in antique furniture is so good, it just can't be obtained new at anywhere near the same price," Tanaka says. "With proper restoration, an old piece will recover its original beauty and become a lifetime partner."

Formerly employed in the textile industry, Tanaka had no contact with woodcraft or furniture restoration until his early 20s, when he made a trip to Europe and found people "cherishing particular pieces of furniture for a lifetime." The visit was a revelation; he quit his job and began studying woodcrafting.

But the more he grew committed to his work, the more time and effort he spent using fine wood, and the more expensive his art became. Impressed again by the quality and warmth of an old piece of English furniture a customer asked him to refurbish, Tanaka changed gears in the early 1980s and started restoring antique furniture.

"Old furniture is fantastic material and a gift from the past," he said in his workshop in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, sitting in a restored English antique chair. "I wanted to pass down something of the furniture to the next generation through restoration."

Since then, Tanaka has been to Britain several times a year to purchase 19th-century and early 20th-century antiques. Upon returning, he takes the furniture apart, removes the finish, repairs any damaged areas, then reassembles and refinishes the pieces with his apprentices.

"I would say I learned most of my skills on my own," he said. "But the techniques I use are about the same as other professionals."

Yet there are points on which Tanaka differs and refuses to compromise. While many restorers use chemicals to quickly remove finishes, Tanaka uses time-consuming metal scrapers to keep the surface intact. Finishing materials are used in combination with traditional and modern products to keep the furniture's original sheen while making the surface resistant to wear-and-tear.

Some furniture is put on display after restoration in Tanaka's wooden, two-story shop Kingsway. Other pieces sit awaiting restoration to customers' specifications; a mahogany table from the 1920s, a Scottish cupboard from the 1850s and a tuned gramophone from the early 20th century to name just a few. Converted pieces can also be seen; a bedside cabinet is transformed into a music speaker with a shelf for CDs; a headboard hangs on a handrail, possibly to become part of a bench.

Tanaka's goal is to establish a restoration business in Japan. Despite his years of effort, however, he admits that the market for restoration work is inadequate to support his family and apprentices. To make ends meet, Tanaka opens his shop as a pub restaurant in the evening. Customers come and sit in antique chairs to sip glasses of bourbon that Tanaka pours from bottles displayed in his treasured antique cupboard.