The Language of Urushi

Urushi has shaped Japanese craft for thousands of years. If you are new to this world, the short glossary below explains the materials and techniques you will encounter throughout our collection—in plain language, with each Japanese term written as it is spoken.

Urushi — the material

Urushi (Japanese lacquer)

The refined sap of the urushi tree. Applied in many thin layers and hardened in a warm, humid environment, it cures into a remarkably durable, water- and acid-resistant surface that only deepens in beauty over time.

Iro-urushi (coloured urushi)

Urushi blended with natural or mineral pigments to create colour—from vermilion red to deep green and warm amber.

Roiro (polished black finish)

A patient finishing method in which black urushi is polished by hand, layer upon layer, into a deep, mirror-like lustre.

Decorative techniques

Maki-e (sprinkled-metal decoration)

Fine gold or silver powder is sprinkled onto still-wet urushi to form a design. It appears in flat (hiramaki-e), raised (takamaki-e) and polished-flush (togidashi maki-e) styles.

Raden (shell inlay)

Thin slivers of iridescent shell, such as mother-of-pearl or abalone, are set into the urushi so they catch and shift the light.

Chinkin

A design is finely incised into the hardened urushi and filled with gold, leaving a glittering line drawing on the surface.

Nashiji ("pear-skin" ground)

Gold or silver flakes are scattered and sealed beneath transparent urushi, creating a softly speckled surface that resembles the skin of a pear.

Tame-nuri (translucent finish)

A coat of transparent urushi over a coloured ground. With age and light it grows clearer, revealing greater depth.

Kintsugi

Kintsugi

The art of restoring a broken object with urushi, the mended seams then finished in gold. The urushi rejoins and fills the break; the gold celebrates the restoration rather than disguising it. This is authentic kintsugi—a true urushi craft, not glue and metallic paint.

Gintsugi

The same approach finished in silver rather than gold, for a cooler, quieter line.

Adorned Kintsugi

Our term for works that move beyond restoration into decorative art, where the urushi-and-metal work becomes an expression in its own right.

See these techniques in the work itself—explore the collection or meet the artists who create them.