Firsthand Encounters with the Arts, Crafts, and Stories of Yamanaka Lacquerware
ABOUT
CRAFTOUR
Experience Yamanaka Lacquerware's artisanal history firsthand, through intimate private tours.
Discover stories and culture by talking with artisans, and go deeper in a lacquerware production region once beloved by famous writers and artists.
Craftour offers a unique opportunity for visitors to make truly meaningful connections, by taking advantage of this region's distinct character as a year-round destination for industrial tourism.
Discover stories and culture by talking with artisans, and go deeper in a lacquerware production region once beloved by famous writers and artists.
Craftour offers a unique opportunity for visitors to make truly meaningful connections, by taking advantage of this region's distinct character as a year-round destination for industrial tourism.
Yamanaka Onsen
One of Japan's preeminent hot spring resort towns, with some 1,300 years of history since its founding. As the name might suggest — literally, “among the mountains” — Yamanaka Onsen is deep in the mountains of Kaga Onsen, a cluster of hot spring towns located in southern Ishikawa. These towns are a source of local pride in the Hokuriku region, and Yamanaka Onsen in particular draws over 400,000 visitors each year. They come to enjoy relaxing baths and hospitality, surrounded by the inspiring natural scenery of a beautiful river that runs along the town, against a backdrop of the mountains all around.
Yamanaka Onsen's exquisite food, culture, and history exist in harmonious synergy with one another. Come discover for yourself why famous historical figures like the poet Matsuo Basho so loved the town's blend of history and culture.
Yamanaka Lacquerware
Yamanaka Lacquerware's story starts a bit over four centuries ago, when a group of woodcarvers permitted to cut down trees moved from Echizen Province (in modern-day Fukui) to a village a bit upstream from Yamanaka Onsen.
Their outstanding artisanal techniques made the area a center for lathe woodworking, developing a reputation for woodworking excellence on par with Wajima's reputation for lacquer application and Kanazawa's reputation for maki-e gold powder decorations.
Some of Yamanaka Lacquerware's iconic expressive woodworking techniques include tategi-dori (a high-precision material preparation, involving cutting round pieces out of circular slices of the tree trunk, to improve the strength and durability of the items carved from that wood), usu-biki (a method of carving wood very thin, beautifully showing off artisanal skill), and kashoku-biki (using a lathe to carve decorative rings and spirals into wood).
In more recent years, many artisans have started to adopt materials like synthetic resins that are easier to incorporate into modern lifestyles, as a way to continue to use and preserve their traditional techniques and local history.
Their outstanding artisanal techniques made the area a center for lathe woodworking, developing a reputation for woodworking excellence on par with Wajima's reputation for lacquer application and Kanazawa's reputation for maki-e gold powder decorations.
Some of Yamanaka Lacquerware's iconic expressive woodworking techniques include tategi-dori (a high-precision material preparation, involving cutting round pieces out of circular slices of the tree trunk, to improve the strength and durability of the items carved from that wood), usu-biki (a method of carving wood very thin, beautifully showing off artisanal skill), and kashoku-biki (using a lathe to carve decorative rings and spirals into wood).
In more recent years, many artisans have started to adopt materials like synthetic resins that are easier to incorporate into modern lifestyles, as a way to continue to use and preserve their traditional techniques and local history.
TOUR
The Craftour Process
Our hands-on tours offer a chance to encounter and enjoy the Yamanaka Lacquerware production process firsthand, and experience the story of how raw materials are transformed, before your very eyes, into finished items through the technical expertise of artisans.
These guided tours take guests to a number of workshops, where artisans each specialize in a single step of the production process.
Encounters like these offer a rare glimpse into the human side of traditional crafts, in a way that engaging only with finished products simply cannot, through conversations and interactions with the experts who create them.
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- On the Reservations page, select a program, date, and start time.
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- We will handle planning and coordination with the artisans who best fit your desired tour, and email you a few days later to confirm your reservation.
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Be at the designated point at the designated time.
Before departing, you will receive an explanation of what to expect that day.
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The tour program will last roughly two hours.
Enjoy an intimate look at the traditional charm of Yamanaka Lacquerware, as it exists today.
Notes:
- ※In some cases, we may be unable to offer certain programs on certain dates, due to artisan availability.If this happens, we will contact to let you know, so that we can reschedule.
- ※Same-day reservations are technically possible, but will often involve compromises due to artisans’ work schedules. If at all possible, we strongly encourage making reservations in advance.
In order to give guests the chance to experience the finest of what the area has to offer, we offer three separate programs with focuses on wood-carving, lacquering and maki-e decorations, and molding and painting contemporary lacquerware (using plastic resins).
You can experience the skills of a woodturner
WOOD-CARVING
Technique
Wood is placed on a lathe and rotated at a high speed, and carved into the desired shape by pressing a blade to it.Artisans who specialize in this wood-carving work are known in Japanese as kijishi, and the technique is registered as an intangible cultural property of Ishikawa.This truly iconic Yamanaka Lacquerware technique has given rise to many circular wooden items like bowls, trays, and plates, due to its use of a lathe.
Highlights
- Usu-biki thin-walled wood-carving by an experienced artisan
- Kashoku-biki decorative carving of rings or spirals
- Tategi-dori lumber preparation based on the way trees grow
Go Deeper and Learn More about Decorating Lacquerware
LACQUERING & MAKI-E DECORATIONS
Technique
Lacquerware has long been associated with Japan internationally — centuries ago, the word “japan” was even used in Europe as a generic term for lacquered wood items, much like how “china” is still used to refer to porcelain items today.The process of adding layers of lacquer, which then dry, takes a great deal of time due to the many layers applied.When dried, this natural material is food-safe and has antimicrobial effects, and it takes on a graceful patina with use over time.
Maki-e is a technique in which a design is drawn with lacquer on the surface of an item, and powdered metals like gold or silver are sprinkled on before the lacquer dries.Yamanaka Lacquerware is especially highly acclaimed for tea ceremony items decorated with maki-e, particularly natsume tea caddies.
Highlights
- Fuki-urushi, a lacquering technique that aims to ensure that the wood grain remains visible
- Maki-e, a delicate decoration technique requiring great finesse
- Urushi-buro, a special chamber for drying lacquered items at the right humidity and temperature
Learn about the Lacquerware Technology of Today
MOLDING & PAINTING
Technique
Contemporary (synthetic) lacquerware is made primarily using plastic (synthetic resin).These items feature shapes and colors more suited to today’s lifestyles, taking advantage of the freedom provided by no longer needing to use carved wood as an underlying base.Though these items are made with modern materials like plastic, they are still the result of finely honed artisanal skills passed down for generations, yet updated to fit the era. For instance, the molding process used to shape each item, and the spray-coating process, are both carefully performed by hand, by experts.
Highlights
- Practical, durable designs
- Pigments sprayed on by hand
- The excitement of the production workshop atmosphere
This special program offers a deeper appreciation of the beauty of Yamanaka Lacquerware through a hands-on look at a special production method.
Experience the precious techniques that have been passed down through hands-on experience
Murakumo painting course
Technique
A traditional technique in which the flame of a Japanese candle is brought close to the lacquerware before the lacquer has hardened to coat it with soot and create patterns on the surface. The appearance is reminiscent of a scene of flickering black clouds, and has a beauty created by nature that is difficult for even craftsmen to predict. This ancient technique of kawari-nuri is still being passed down by the only craftsman living in Yamanaka Onsen.
*For this tour, we will deliver the actual works produced by the customer at a later date.
Highlights
- "Traditional techniques" passed down through messengers, etc.
- “Irregular patterns” created by natural flames
- Experience and feel the ”varying coating” of lacquer
ACCESS
- address
- 1-Ma-21 Yamanaka Onsen Higashi-machi, Kaga, Ishikawa 922-0114
- info@craftour.jp
- tel
- 0761-75-7394
