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ARCHIVED 400 Year Tradition of Takaoka Lacquerware in Toyama

Friday 8 November 2024 / 1:30pm
400 Year Tradition of Takaoka Lacquerware in Toyama

Date
Friday 8 November 2024

Time
1.30pm

Venue
The Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
[Map]

Booking Details
Free - Booking essential

Please note that spaces are limited and so early booking is recommended.

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The Japan Society is delighted to welcome Takeshi Musashigawa, fourth-generation head of Musashigawa Kobo, Toyama, to discuss his artisanal practice with Masami Yamada, a Curator in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Asia Department. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Takaoka lacquerware and watch a demonstration of the mother-of-pearl inlay technique (raden).

Takaoka Lacquerware has a history of over 400 years and was officially designated a traditional craft in 1975. One of the distinguishing features of Takaoka Lacquerware, compared to other lacquerware styles in Japan, is the intricate decorative techniques (known as kashoku) applied to the lacquer. Techniques introduced from China, along with the creation of various methods such as chokoku-nuri (carved lacquer), rust painting, mother-of-pearl inlays, and zonsei (lacquer painting with contours in gilded or plain hair-line engraving), use a variety of colored lacquers to create a three-dimensional effect. 
 
In the early Edo period, Takaoka Castle was built in what is now Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, which became the center of the feudal domain. One of the districts that emerged was the sashimono-yachō, where wooden furniture was crafted. This marked the beginning of Takaoka Lacquerware, as artisans began applying lacquer to furniture. By the mid-Edo period, the technique of carving with layers of lacquer, introduced from China, led to the development of methods that used coloured lacquers such as red, purple, and white to create a sense of depth. Takaoka Lacquerware has continuously adapted to the times, producing elegant pieces that enhance interiors. Today, the craft continues to create items that harmonize with everyday life, building upon its inherited techniques.
 
 
 

Takeshi Musashigawa was born in 1981 in Takaoka City, Toyama and is the fourth-generation head of Musashigawa Kobo, founded in 1910. He graduated from the General Course at the Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts in 2004, specializing in maki-e, and joined Musashigawa Kobo immediately after. In 2015, he received an official certification as a traditional craftsman from the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry in recognition of his work.

Takaoka Lacquerware operates on a division-of-labor system in which different artisans are responsible for different steps of the process. As a raden artist, Musashigawa’s role is designing patterns and applying raden decoration. Coming from a family of raden artisans—including his great-grandfather, grandparents, parents, and wife—the workshop was his childhood playground. Despite Takaoka being Japan’s leading region for raden decoration, there are currently only about five practicing artisans, and Musashigawa is one of the important next generation of raden masters.

Masami Yamada is a Curator in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Asia Department. She has particular responsibility for the collections of Japanese lacquerware, netsuke, ukiyo-e woodblock prints and contemporary craft. Her current area of research is contemporary craft, particularly the work of urushi lacquer artists. In 2022, she received the Sir Nicholas Goodison Award for Contemporary Craft from the Art Fund to further develop the Museum’s internationally renowned Japanese lacquer collection.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk. 

In association with Toyama Prefecture and Mizu to Takumi

Booking Info

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Event Tags: Traditional Art in the Modern WorldLecture

   

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