Hariya Kinuyo: Soft in Form, Powerful Beneath

At first glance, the Dragon Maki-e Lucky Cat presents a familiar and inviting expression, facing the viewer with the gentle charm of a traditional maneki neko, a lucky cat. Yet when one moves behind it, a different image appears. Spanning the full surface of its back side is an ascending dragon, rendered with commanding presence. One is made aware that tenderness and strength, seemingly disparate qualities, coexist within a single form.

This piece was created by maki-e artist Hariya Kinuyo. Having refined her skills in Yamanaka, Ishikawa Prefecture, a region known for its lacquerware production, and drawing on her experience studying oil painting, Hariya has incorporated a distinctive method of creating expression through the delicate layering of lines and surfaces of maki-e.

Team Musubi spoke with Hariya about her path as a maki-e artist, her approach to maki-e artistry, and the thoughts embedded within this piece.

Hariya grew up amid the mountains of Yamanaka, an area rich in natural beauty and long known as a hub of traditional crafts. Her parents were involved in the coating of lacquerware, a field sometimes known as “modern lacquerware,” and even as a child, she remembers feeling drawn to the idea of making her living through drawing.

While still in high school, she studied under a local oil painter, and as she began to explore the possibility of making art her profession, her interest gradually shifted toward the material itself. Encountering the expressive qualities of wooden bases and undercoats used in lacquerware, she began to wonder what might happen if she were to paint directly onto such surfaces. That curiosity led her into the world of lacquer.

At a time when female apprentices were still rare, she began her training under a lacquer artist known for creating utensils for the tea ceremony. Apprenticeships then offered no wages—only years of discipline and learning. Even so, her determination to pursue a challenging art led her to devote herself fully to the world of maki-e.

“What drew me most strongly was the way advanced technique and beauty were condensed into something as small as a natsume, the matcha container used in tea ceremonies. If I was going to learn, I wanted to master something truly challenging,” she recalls, speaking calmly as she looks back on those years.

Later, together with her husband, Hariya Masayuki, she founded Urushi Art Hariya. In its early years, they established a workshop and initiated production independently.

On April 1, 2021, the studio marked its 40th anniversary. Today, her sons, Takayuki and Shogo, have also taken up the craft and begun working as maki-e artists. As a family, they now dedicate themselves to sharing the appeal of maki-e with a wider audience.

At the heart of the Dragon Maki-e Lucky Cat lies a simple sentiment expressed by Hariya herself: her love for cats.

Hariya grew up in a richly natural environment surrounded by mountains and forests, developing a close familiarity with animals, and as a child, she took care of birds. This background carries through to her present body of work, where plants and animals appear as recurring motifs. Cats, in particular, have long held a special place in her heart.

Her encounter with lucky cats began through her participation in a cat-themed exhibition held at a department store. There, she met many artists who worked with feline designs. Among them was Mera Kenji, the artist who created the ceramic base for the Dragon Maki-e Lucky Cat.

Captivated by Mera’s work, Hariya attended workshops, learned how to depict cats, and gradually built a relationship through ongoing exchange. As this relationship developed, it was decided that the ceramic cat base would serve as the foundation for her work.

However, when she began work on the piece, she realized that the ceramic base had large openings where the eyes should be. Although she had been given freedom to alter the form, this required her to engage with the piece from an almost blank starting point.

“Balancing the shape, bringing out a sense of playfulness, and ensuring that the lacquer work remained structurally sound—that was a considerable challenge,” she explains.

She also speaks of the particular care she devoted to the eyes.

“With lacquer, you cannot use a wide range of colors the way you can with paint. Within those limitations, I thought carefully about how to express individuality. This time, I wanted to try a color that felt somewhat unlike traditional lacquer, something like an emerald green, so I worked that idea into the eyes. It is a color I personally like very much.”

Gold is also applied to the eyes. Beneath their gentle expression, a restrained yet unmistakable glimmer can be seen. That gaze plays a key role in defining the character of this lucky cat.

As mentioned earlier, because the eyes were originally hollowed out, the crafting process began by filling them with lacquer and reshaping the face. From there, thin layers of lacquer were applied and allowed to dry repeatedly, gradually building the base of the piece.

The color scheme was determined gradually over the course of the work. On the front, the face was finished with a vertically divided, two-tone pattern across the forehead known as hachiware in Japanese. For the back side, black would be the primary tone, with gold leaf applied beneath as a base. Over this, a brown-toned lacquer mixture was layered, allowing the gold to subtly show through.

On the white areas, kansuiko, a finely ground mineral powder, was sprinkled to leave a deliberately textured surface.

“Rather than aiming for a flawless lacquer surface, I wanted it to be something enjoyable to touch,”

Hariya reflects. By finding joy in the creative process itself, a sense of ease carries through into her lacquer work.

One of the most difficult aspects was applying lacquer to the strongly curved body of the cat. Unlike vessels, it could not be rotated while drying, making it impossible to apply thick layers at once. “I had to apply thin layers, let them dry, and repeat that process over and over,” says Hariya. As a result, each section required approximately twenty to thirty layers, making it an extremely labor-intensive process.

Once the lacquer surface was prepared, the work moved into the maki-e stage. For the dragon on the back, the techniques of hira maki-e, or flat maki-e, and kakiwari, in which maki-e powder is sprinkled without applying lacquer, were employed. The scales were drawn one by one using bengara lacquer, after which gold powder was carefully sprinkled over the surface. For the red areas that evoke flames, shukin was used, creating a finish in which the brilliance of red and gold shifts with the angle of view.

The final step was togi, polishing. As Hariya notes, “The most difficult part of maki-e is not drawing, but polishing.” Polish too much or too little, and the expression is lost. By carefully polishing each scale so that it rises into relief, the gold emerges from within the lacquer.

“When a piece has many curved areas like this one, it is easy to over-polish the outer surfaces. For that reason, I try to start from the inner areas, which are more difficult to reach. It requires long hours and a great deal of patience, but the beauty of the gold depends entirely on the quality of this polishing.”

Among maki-e artists, the level of polishing skill is immediately apparent from the appearance of gold. “Even when using the same gold powder, the final result differs from person to person. That difference comes down to polishing technique.”

From lacquer application through maki-e and polishing, the work took approximately six months to complete. The finished lucky cat, brought to life through repeated trial and error, is lavishly adorned with varied maki-e techniques and gold leaf, presenting a richly ornamented presence.

What Hariya values most in her creative practice is the sense of surprise that arises when a box is opened. This idea is closely tied to her roots in tea utensils.

“With lidded vessels, there is something that moves the heart when the lid is lifted. With netsuke, small sculptural toggles worn at the waist of a kimono, there may be a playful detail not visible from the front. I enjoy thinking about those kinds of elements of surprise,” she says with a light, playful smile. Providing such experiences, she believes, is part of the joy of making things.

The Dragon Maki-e Lucky Cat was born from that same sensibility. From the front, it presents a gentle and charming feline expression. On its back, however, a powerful dragon has been deliberately placed.

Tenderness and strength, opposing elements, are contained within a single form, revealing different expressions depending on the angle it is viewed. This work possesses a presence that is unmistakably its own.

Guided by her deep affection for animals, Hariya has created many works featuring animal and plant motifs. That attachment remains unchanged. “I am fond of familiar beings like cats and owls, so I would like to continue creating works centered on them,” she says.

At the same time, her feelings toward tea utensils, particularly natsume, which represent the origin of her path as a maki-e artist, remain steadfast. Willow motifs, traditionally associated with natsume and drawn in fine gold lines, are among the expressions she wishes to continue cherishing.

“My husband and I began with tea utensils, and that is something we want to continue. We also want to pass it on to our sons. We hope to share the uniquely Japanese beauty of maki-e with the world.”

In recent years, her younger son and his wife have also joined the production process, taking on new fields such as fountain pens and writing instruments. Hariya herself had previously created accessories adorned with maki-e, but with a desire to bring its appeal to a wider audience, she has steadily expanded the scope of her art through ongoing experimentation. Fountain pens and writing instruments represent one such new direction.

“Lacquer is a material that can, in principle, be applied to almost anything.” True to those words, Hariya’s work continues to expand beyond any single category, opening onto new possibilities for the future.