Kagawa lacquerware

Kagawa lacquerware is tied to Takamatsu and nearby localities in Kagawa Prefecture. During the Edo period, the Matsudaira family of the Takamatsu domain supported arts such as tea, flower arrangement, and calligraphy, and lacquer objects found places in confectionery vessels, trays, writing boxes, and display shelves.

The local setting becomes concrete through those objects. A tray moves between hands, a confectionery vessel enters a tea setting, and a display shelf gives a lacquered surface a place in a room. The cultural meaning of Kagawa lacquerware rests in these Takamatsu practices and in objects made to be held, placed, stored, and viewed.

Kagawa lacquerware is known through five techniques: kinma, zonsei, choshitsu, goto-nuri, and zokoku-nuri. Kinma begins with lacquer built up on wood or bamboo; a kinma blade cuts the pattern, colored lacquer fills the grooves, and polishing brings the design level with the surface.

Zonsei combines colored-lacquer painting, incised detail, and gold powder. Choshitsu stacks many colored lacquer layers and then carves through them. Goto-nuri builds a vermilion lacquer finish over a prepared base, while zokoku-nuri uses textured wood and makomo powder to create a subdued, aged surface. The five names give readers a practical way to notice line, color, layer, and texture.

The material base is urushi, the sap of the lacquer tree. Freshly gathered sap is called raw lacquer and is used for underlayers; heated lacquer becomes transparent lacquer; minerals or pigments added to transparent lacquer create colored lacquer.

Colored lacquer makes the work visible. In kinma, colored lacquer fills the cut grooves before the surface is polished flat. In choshitsu, the carving exposes colors from the stacked layers beneath. Black lacquer also comes from material behavior: iron powder reacts with the acid in lacquer, and repeated coating gives the black a sense of depth.

Tamakaji Zokoku was born into a Takamatsu family of scabbard lacquerers. While studying in Kyoto, he encountered lacquerware techniques connected with China and Southeast Asia; after returning home, he served the Takamatsu domain and developed methods related to kinma, zonsei, and choshitsu.

The continuity here has clear places and handwork: Takamatsu, Kyoto, and Asian lacquer techniques meet in the work of a named lacquer artisan, then return to local objects and surfaces. The five Kagawa methods are understood through that movement of study, adaptation, and use.

Kagawa lacquerware appears in confectionery vessels, trays, display shelves, writing boxes, utensils, and furniture-related pieces. These forms place lacquer in recognizable rooms and gestures: sweets in a vessel, a tray carried by hand, a writing box used for storage, and a shelf made for viewing.

Technique changes how each object is seen. Kinma asks for close attention to fine lines, choshitsu reveals color through carved layers, and goto-nuri or zokoku-nuri lets vermilion, wood texture, and matte depth settle into everyday forms. The craft’s use context spans serving, storing, displaying, and looking closely.

The Kagawa Lacquerware Research Institute sits within this Takamatsu craft setting and trains students in lacquer techniques. Its display space and hands-on activities connect finished surfaces with the movements behind them: colored lacquer, carving, tools, polishing, and small objects.

Continuity becomes visible in practice. Students learn how lacquer is handled, how lines are cut, how layers are built, and how surfaces are polished; visitors can encounter the material through activities such as chopstick painting and small-plate choshitsu work. Kagawa lacquerware remains active because these techniques are still taught, shown, and handled in Takamatsu.