| Japanese |
 |
| Museum | Facilities | Collections | Access | History and Culture of Wajima-Nuri |
| Collections | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wajima-nuri | Modern lacquerware | Asian lacquerware | ||||||||||||||||||
 Four tiered box with design of old pine tree in chinkin |
 Dish with design of cat in chinkin |
 Vessel with gold gilding and glacc inlay |
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Wajima-nuri | ||||||||||||||||||||
Relics from the Jomon period have been found in archaeological sites in
Ishikawa Prefecture that have  survived to this day and we have been able to retrace the historical usage
of urushi in each particular area of the country. A characteristic unique
to Wajima-nuri from the Noto peninsula in the use of powdered diatomaceous earth generally
known as jinoko. According to the archives remaining at Juzo shrine (1476) and red-urushi
doors made for the shrine (1524) , it seems that early Wajima-nuri was already in existence in the Muromachi period. Wajima was a major seaport
for trade on the Sea of Japan side of the country and this enables the
town to spread Wajima-nuri throughout Japan. Now, Wajima produces many urushi artists who have received
prize at famous exhibitions.  A piece of Urushiware is produced through the many hands of skillful artisans. First, the most appropriate kind of wood is chosen from a number of varieties. Next, in the process of kyushitsu (the application of layers of urushi) cloth is used to reinforce the rims,
and undercoats mixed with jinoko are applied. The quality of urushiware-which includes its high strength,
surface beauty, and refined shapes-depends on how well the kyushitsu stage has been done. Chinkin is a technique in which a design is carved into the urushi surface with
a chinkin chisel urushi is rubbed into the grooves and then gold or silver
leaf or keshi-fun is put into these lines. Makie is a traditional way of decorating urushiware. Motifs are drawn with urushi on the surface and makie powder is sprinkled on before the urushi has dried. |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||