SANJO, Niigata Prefecture--A small woodwork company here managed what many enterprises can only dream of: to open an outlet in the swank 7th arrondissement of Paris.

How Marunao Co. ended up almost rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Le Bon Marche department store in a once-aristocratic neighborhood of the French capital is a story about risking everything to survive.

The chopstick shop is on a ritzy street lined with restaurants and boutiques with large windows.

“I fulfilled my dream of operating an outlet in one of the world's best locations,” said Takahiro Fukuda, 46, president of Marunao.

Fukuda was ruminating on his good fortune the day after a chef of a Michelin Guide-rated restaurant joined a writer from a local gourmet magazine and others at a wine party to celebrate the Nov. 8 opening of the tiny gallery-like store that targets wealthier individuals from Europe and the United States.

Fukuda's inspiration for the store lay in the worldwide boom in Japanese cuisine and his hopes that people in other countries would make it a lifetime habit to use chopsticks when dining on Japanese dishes.

Fukuda's ideal was to develop a utensil that makes users feel as if they are not using chopsticks.

Marunao’s chopsticks, fashioned from ebony timber and rosewood, are twice as heavy as poplar and Japanese cedar wood, which are normally used for the implements. The materials, rich in fiber and resin, do not break easily but are difficult to process.

The process to create the finished product involves drying the timber for at least three months and then shaving it into a 1.5-milimeter-diameter at its tip. The cross-section is then processed into an octagon shape to allow users to hold the tool with ease.

The manufacturing process is complicated, and one that only Fukuda and another craftsman say they are able to accomplish.

As the finished chopsticks are thin and strong, they allow users to smoothly slice boiled potatoes, or even pick up chickpeas firmly.

When users eat such morsels, the chopsticks hardly come into contact with their mouths.

The eating implements are not cheap, however, and mainly priced at between 10,000 yen ($91.50) and 20,000 yen. The most expensive set tops 100,000 yen. Despite the high prices, around 20,000 pairs of the chopsticks sell annually at department stores, online shopping sites and elsewhere across Japan.

Surprisingly, chopsticks initially were not among the product lineup of Marunao. When Fukuda’s grandfather founded the company in 1939, it focused on Buddhist altar fittings and sculptured works for temples and shrines.

Fukuda’s father made carpenters' tools such as gimlets, which are used to drill small holes by hand.

Marunao's annual sales exceeded 100 million yen in the 1980s. But by 2000, the figure had dropped by more than half because of a scarcity of skilled carpenters due to simplified construction methods and the fact that domestically-produced tools had been replaced by cheap imports at DIY stories.

The company's precarious financial situation was further exacerbated when flooding that left 15 people dead in Sanjo and surrounding areas struck its plant on July 13, 2004.

Disaster struck after an embankment of the Ikarashigawa river, 1 kilometer from the factory, collapsed. The first floor of the plant where the manufacturing machines were installed was inundated with nearly 2 meters of water. Fukuda was only able to enter the site through a window on the second floor with a flotation ring.

His father fell into deep despondency and was unable to imagine how the company would survive, but Fukuda kept pondering what he could do to revive Marunao’s fortunes.

The following day, Fukuda took a massive gamble. He placed an order to purchase a milling machine that cost 15 million yen, not to produce carpentry tools, but wooden chopsticks.

He was consumed by the challenge.

“At the time, I could not afford to look back,” said Fukuda, recalling that he was already 31 years old. “The act may seem reckless when I think back on it now.”

But he did not start the business without any prospect of success. Fukuda had already worked at the family company for four years, having quit his previous job with a leading plywood maker and was engaged in the development of new products to replace carpentry kits prior to the disaster.

Wine racks, tables, wooden spatulas and other items did not appear to be promising, but Fukuda felt chopsticks could prove to be the company's salvation.

His rationale was this: The finishing skills essential for carpenters’ tools could work to the company's advantage if it produced wooden chopsticks. When the flooding hit, Fukuda had just begun delivering his products to a chopstick outlet in Tokyo.

The disaster caused more than 100 million yen in damage to the company. Fukuda stayed up at night sharpening hardwoods to make strong and extremely thin chopsticks that are easy to manipulate.

His efforts resulted in the patronage of a buyer from a leading department store operator, putting the business back on track. That was about 10 years ago.

It was during those days that Marunao started a full-fledged attempt to expand its sales network outside of Japan.

Another four years would pass before Japan's traditional "washoku" cuisine was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Although it was still unclear if the company's overseas sales would take off, Fukuda decided it was boom or bust time.

“The company will never grow unless we crack open the market by ourselves,” he recalled thinking.

Fukuda made sure the company was represented at trade fairs held in Europe each year, and always had a booth to showcase Marunao's products to chefs and grocery shop buyers.

Sales of wooden chopsticks rose 10-fold over the 10-year period. Chopsticks now account for 80 percent of Marunao’s total annual sales of 135 million yen. Of that latter figure, 20 percent derives from 12 nations in Europe and elsewhere.

Fukuda said his next goal is to expand into New York City within five years. He has projected setting up sales bases in 25 locations across the globe in 50 years.

So, opening the outlet in Paris is just the beginning of his dream.

“Everybody loves food, no matter what language they speak and what culture they live in,” said Fukuda. “My hope is to establish a new value in which people continue to use their chopsticks throughout their lifetime, just like favorite wristwatches and clothing.”