Lacqerware
Japan. Lacquerware developed in Japan from a very early period.
The lacquer tree is indigenous to Central Asia. The technique of lacquer art had developed in China and came to Japan in the fifth or sixth century. The lacquer tree is about 10 meters in height, and belongs to the cashew family. The leaves turn crimson in the autumn. When the grayish-white trunk is slashed with knife, a grayish-yellow liquid oozes out from between the bark and the wood. This liquid is crude lacquer. Crude lacquer is heated to allow the moisture to evaporate.
Lacquer art developed in different regions; these include styles such as Wajima-nuri (Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture), Wakasa-nuri (Wakasa City, Fukui Prefecture), Shunkei-nuri (Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture), Nambu-nuri (Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture), and Tsugaru-nuri (Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture). The production methods of these lacquer arts were protected by feudal lords and have been passed down to the present as specialties of these districts.
According to a traditional story, about 1600 years ago, Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, a member of the Imperial Family who is said to have created Japan, was having battles for the unification of Japan. One day on the battlefield, he broke a branch of a tree, and the leaves suddenly turned red. Beautiful transparent sap began flowing from the spot where the branch was broken off. He ordered his men to collect the juice, and when this was used to his favorite utensils, they glowed with a beautiful radiance.
