Overview of Woodwork and Lacquerware
The abundance of easily procured good timber in Japan dictated that timber would be the material of choice for building in Japan. Skills in woodcraft developed early and led to the manufacture of many fine wooden objects for daily use. Lacquer coating was employed from an early stage to make wooden objects waterproof and to increase their durability. In the Edo period (1600-1868), lacquer craft reached a high level of artistry.
In addition to woodwork for architecture, which reached a high point in the profession known as "shrine carpentry" (miya-daiku), four main categories of woodwork developed in Japan: lathework (hikimono) mainly in the making of bowls and round trays; "bent wood" (magemono) for food containers and buckets; joinery (sashimono) for boxes, stands, small items of furniture and architectural fittings such as sliding screens; and carving (horimono) for transoms, religious statues, ceremonial and theatrical masks and personal accessories such as netsuke.
Certain timbers are especially prized. These include paulownia, used for kimono chests, because of its ability to absorb moisture and repel insects; zelkova, used for general furniture, pillars and floorboards, because of its sturdiness and beautiful grain; and Japanese cedar and cypress, used for food boxes, bowls and barrels, because of their lightness and pristine appearance.
Some regions became famous for the development of specific woodcrafts owing to the procurability of timber in their area. Paulownia chests, for example, developed in Kamo, Niigata Prefecture, and cherrybark craft in Kakunodate, Akita Prefecture. Marquetry employing a wide variety of different colored timbers became famous in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The oldest known examples of lacquering in the world, earthenware pots lacquered in black and red, were found in Japan, dating from 4500 BC. It is thus possible that Japan has the longest history of lacquer use in the world. The lacquer in Japan is similar to that used throughout Southeast Asia, made from the transparent brown sap of the urushi tree (Rhus verniciflua). Urushi lacquer has interesting physical properties in that it only hardens in high humidity. Once hardened, it repels water, prevents rotting, and is also a good insulator of heat. In Japan it was most commonly used as a coating for wooden soup bowls and other food vessels and to provide a protective layer for architectural fittings and furniture such as chests.
Wood is the most common material for the core of lacquer products, but lacquer can also be applied to basketry, leather, paper and pottery. In recent years it has been applied to plastic and metal as well.
The lacquering process differs slightly in each region of Japan. Generally, the process begins with undercoats, fillers and then the attachment of reinforcing strips of cloth, followed by middle coats and a highly refined top coat.
Decoration is applied on the top layer. Wajima lacquerware in Ishikawa Prefecture is most famous for its rich gold decoration called maki-e. Fukushima Prefecture is known for its Aizu lacquerware with colorful handpainted patterns, Aomori Prefecture is known for its intricately layered and sandpapered Tsugaru lacquerware, Gifu Prefecture for its refined caramel-colored Shunkei lacquerware, and Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture for its lacquering in deep red of carved surfaces, known as Kamakura-bori.
