Copa de champán TOHKA Brut

If you are aiming for a sense of the unexpected at your next party, why not replace your regular wine glasses with the elegance of porcelain or the dark allure of lacquerware. The exquisite Japanese craftsmanship is sure to spark conversation among your guests, and the designs will create a truly unique table setting.

The origin of Yamanaka lacquerware dates back to about 400 years ago (Azuchi-Momoyama period). A group of kiji-shi (woodturners) who made their living by traveling from mountain to mountain producing wooden tableware settled in Manago, upstream from Yamanaka Onsen (hot spring), and began to turn wood into lacquerware.

Lacquerware is basically made by a kiji-shi who turns the wood and a nuri-shi who applies the lacquer. Yamanaka lacquerware is characterized by its wood, and has excelled at producing bowls with a wipe lacquer finish that brings out the grain of the turned wood.

The process of lacquer coating is roughly divided into three different processes; base coating, middle coating and then applying the finishing coat.

The base coating works as the filler coat. Lacquer is brushed onto the wooden base and is allowed to infiltrate the wood. After letting it dry for two days, the same process is repeated several times. Polishing the lacquer in between coats gives the bowl a smoother texture and gives a delicate feel in the hands of the user. It takes a minimum of at least 15 days to finish making one bowl.

After the lacquer coating, the bowlsl are placed in a “Urushimuro” , a wooden rack used to dry the freshly lacquer-coated items. Lacquer reacts to too much moisture in the air and tends to harden. To avoid this from happening, the moisture of the wooden rack is carefully controlled by regularly spraying it with water and maintaining the appropriate moisture level for the lacquer coating to dry beautifully.

Japanese lacquerware, called shikki or nuri-mono in Japanese.

There are two main types of Japanese lacquerware: natural lacquerware and synthetic lacquerware. Natural lacquerware is called hon-urushi, made from the natural Japanese lacquer of the Lacquer tree, which is found in East Asia.
You will not get a skin irritation by urushiol if you touch the finished pieces. Also natural Japanese lacquerware is very good for cutlery such as chopsticks that comes in direct contact with the mouth because of its bacterial resistance.

Synthetic lacquerware is easier to handle, less expensive.

Learn about those both types of Japanese lacquerware's properties and how to care for it.