A film crew from Tokyo Broadcasting Service Thurdsay visited the furniture factory of Frederick Duckloe & Bros., Inc. to document a slice of Americana — the making of handcrafted Windsor chairs.

The filming, part of a series sponsored by Diner's Club of Japan called "World Shopping Tour," will eventually air on Japanese television.

"What we are trying to do is introduce the real traditional American things to the Japanese," said Victor Higgins, the production coordinator for the crew.

The Duckloe plant, which began operating in 1859, makes reproductions of Windsor chairs and benches. The originals, first made in 18th century England, have a bowed comb back, spreading legs and a saddle seat.

As for the Japanese interest in his company's chairs, Frederick Duckloe Sr. said, "For some reason they just seem to think that our chairs are the best reproductions made in America."

Duckloe, the head of the family-owned business, said that though he did not pursue the Japanese market, it might prove to be lucrative.

"Already we have received orders for hundreds of the chairs, believe it or not," he said.

Higgins said a possible market was several developments outside Tokyo that feature Colonial-style architecture and furnishing.

David H. Fiel, the U.S. representative of Imperial Enterprises of Tokyo, to the Japanese interested in Windsors by sending his client a Duckloe catalog.

"There's a market for very, very, fine quality furniture in Japan," Fiel said. He added that many Japanese business executives who have traveled to the United States develop an interest in American life, including Colonial-style furnishing.

Duckloe makes about 50 different models of chairs and benches, including miniatures and children's chairs, and previously had been commissioned to produce copies of Windsors for the Smithsonian and Independence Hall.

Of particular interest to the film crew was the Thomas Jefferson writing armchair designed by the nation's third president.

The camera crew shot footage of Jusaburo Tsujimura, a renowned puppeteer, talking through a translator with several workers about the construction of the chair.

Donald Shook, the factory foreman who has worked there for 40 years, told his guests that the manufacturing process tries to combine the best of handcrafting and machining to ensure quality.

As an example, he told a story about a salesman who wanted to sell the company an electric glue injector.

But Shook persuaded the owners to buy the machine.

He said gluing the tapered holes and compound angles of the Windsor chairs requires the old-fashioned approach: "When you do it by hand, you use a little stick and get glue in the entire hole and get a better hold."

Frederick Duckloe Jr. said the quality of the furniture pretty much speaks for itself and probably best explains the reason for the unusual pilgramage to Portland.

"People eventually get here," he said. "I mean the Japanese got here."

The list of future stops by the film crew puts Duckloe in pretty much select company.

In addition to the stop in Portland, Higgins said, the crew will visit the manufacturers of Buck Knives in San Francisco, as well as makers of antique doll reproductions in New York City and Los Angeles.

According to Higgins, the film is not intended to be what Americans consider a commercial, but rather more of an attempt to provide a glimpse of the history and culture of this country as reflected in some of its products.

Higgins said the "World Shopping Tour" airs about five times a year on Japanese television and offers such products to an upscale audience.