Aizu LacquerwarePhoto：Fukushima Prefecture

  • Lacquerware
  • Fukushima

Aizu Lacquerware Aizu Nuri

Aizu Lacquerware is known for auspicious motifs such as the traditional Aizu-e designs featuring pine, bamboo, plum, and ceremonial arrows, along with a wide variety of decorative techniques including maki-e, Tetsusabi-nuri, and Kinmushikui-nuri. Its soft luster and elegant ornamentation are applied to everything from everyday tableware to decorative furnishings. It was designated a Traditional Craft by the Japanese government in 1975.

Description

What is Aizu Lacquerware ?

Aizu Lacquerware (called Aizu Nuri in Japanese) is lacquerware made in the Aizu region of Fukushima prefecture. During the manufacturing process, the craft is classified into round pieces, such as bowls, and flat pieces such as trays or stationery boxes. Patterns combining pine, bamboo, plum, and hamaya (ritual arrows used to drive away devils) are called Aizu pictures. The distinct characteristics of Aizu Lacquerware are its auspicious designs and decorations. Although during the Edo period (1603-1868) the colors black, vermillion, and green were often used, in modern times an opaque reddish brown or yellowish vermillion has been used, and color schemes created using a limited number of colors have also become an attraction. In addition, since the carved grooves are finer and shallower than in lacquerware produced in other areas, the decoration has a soft appearance. For the top coating, Aizu Lacquerware employs techniques like coating with tetsusabinuri, which has an astringency similar to that of cast metal, achieved by using rust lacquer, or kinmushikuinuri which uses rice chaff to create a pattern. There are many other kinds of top-coating techniques, such as kijironuri, which brings out the beauty of the wood grain, or hananuri, which creates gloss through the addition of oil. Each technique requires the artisan to have advanced skills.
For surface decoration, keshifun maki-e is the representative technique of Aizu Lacquerware. Pictures are drawn with a lacquered covered brush, and fine gold dust is applied using cotton wadding.

History

Lacquer had been used in the Aizu region since ancient times, and lacquerware production is believed to have existed there by the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The decisive step toward establishing it as a regional industry came in 1590, when the feudal lord Gamō Ujisato took control of Aizu. He brought woodturners and lacquerers from Hino in Ōmi Province, present-day Shiga Prefecture, to introduce advanced production techniques. He also established a training workshop known as the Nurinuri Ōyashiki, laying the foundations for lacquerware production as an industry supporting the local economy.

During the Edo period (1603–1868), Hoshina Masayuki, founder of the Aizu domain, protected lacquer trees and encouraged their cultivation to secure a stable supply of raw lacquer. Successive domain lords continued to support woodworkers and lacquerers, leading to the development of a specialized division of labor encompassing lacquer harvesting, wooden-base production, coating, and decoration. In the late Edo period, domain official Tanaka Harunaka invited maki-e artists from Kyoto as part of his economic reforms. Their techniques, including keshifun maki-e using finely powdered gold, contributed to the development of distinctive Aizu decoration, such as Aizu-e designs featuring auspicious motifs including pine, bamboo, plum blossoms, and ceremonial arrows.

The opening of Yokohama in the final years of the Edo period created opportunities for overseas trade. However, the Boshin War of 1868 devastated the castle town and its lacquerware industry, forcing many craftspeople to leave the area. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), artisans and merchants formed trade associations, rebuilt production networks, exhibited their work at domestic and international expositions, and expanded exports through Yokohama. By the middle of the Meiji period, Aizu had regained its position as one of Japan’s leading lacquerware-producing regions.

The industry subsequently adapted to changing lifestyles and markets by developing new designs and products while introducing more efficient woodworking methods. Aizu Nuri was designated a Traditional Craft by the Japanese government in 1975.

Production Process

  1. 1. Wood carving Aizu Lacquerware comes in two forms: round pieces, such as bowls and trays, and flat pieces, such as tiered food boxes. The materials used for the wooden bases of round pieces are horse chestnut and zelkova while the wood for flat pieces comes from trees like magnolia, zelkova, and paulownia trees. After the wood has been cut into an approximate shape, it is dried naturally for more than three years in order to remove the lye and astringency of the wood.
  2. 2. Wood lathe grinding The sufficiently dried wooden base is cut into round pieces and hand shaved with a lathe by wood specialists. When using a wood lathe, subtle differences in the shape can be brought out through differing levels of force.
    Meanwhile, the craftsmen who make flat pieces are traditionally called sowashi. During the cutting of the wood base, many different kinds of wood planes and excellent technique are required in order to create the desired shape.
  3. 3. Preparing the undercoating The sabishitaji or rust undercoat is a mixture of raw lacquer and polishing powder. Painting it on the wood base gives a flat and smooth finish. This step is repeated several times.
  4. 4. Polishing The undercoating is polished with a grindstone to make the lacquer adhere better and to eliminate the unevenness of the wooden base.
  5. 5. Lacquering For lacquering, there is an undercoating, intermediate coating, and top coating. After lacquer is applied in the undercoating and intermediate coating, there is a final check for scratches. Hananuri is commonly used as top coat. It has to be applied carefully to prevent dust adhesion, unevenness, and to maintain the gentle texture of the piece.
    Upon the completion of top coating, the piece is dried in a drying chamber, and so it dries uniformly, it is turned over from time to time.
  6. 6. Maki-e Maki-e is a method that makes use of the adhesive quality of lacquer by sprinkling powder of gold, silver, or other colors like vermillion, yellow, or blue onto a lacquer drawing.

Facility Information

Aizu Machikata Densyokan

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