Awano Shunkei-nuri is a lacquerware tradition passed down in Awano, Shirosato Town, Higashi-Ibaraki District, Ibaraki Prefecture. It is said to have begun in 1489 (Entoku 1), in the Muromachi period, when Inagawa Yamashiro-no-kami Minamoto no Yoshiaki devised a way of lacquering using lacquer, hinoki cypress, and plum wood native to the area. In the Edo period, Okobei, the 8th-generation head of the Inagawa family, competed in skill against a lacquer craftsman from Kishu before Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the 2nd lord of the Mito Domain, and the superior finish of his work earned the family the position of official lacquerware supplier to the Mito Domain. The technique involves tinting the wooden base yellow or red and then applying repeated coats of transparent lacquer (sukiurushi) over it so the wood grain shows through, and it is counted, alongside Hida Shunkei-nuri of Gifu and Noshiro Shunkei-nuri of Akita, as one of Japan's three great Shunkei-nuri lacquerware traditions. It was designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Ibaraki Prefecture on January 25, 1989 (Heisei 1), but today only a single workshop, that of the Inagawa family, carries on the tradition.
Origin
The origin of Awano Shunkei-nuri is said to date back to 1489 (Entoku 1) in the Muromachi period. Inagawa Yamashiro-no-kami Minamoto no Yoshiaki is said to have devised a way of lacquering using lacquer, hinoki cypress, and plum wood growing wild along the Katsura River around present-day Awano in Shirosato Town, and to have passed it on to his son, Taro Zaemon Masatada. It is said that the technique was fully established in what is now Awano, Shirosato Town, in the time of the third-generation head, Yoshitada.
History
In the Edo period, Okobei, the 8th-generation head of the Inagawa family, was summoned by Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the 2nd lord of the Mito Domain, and made to compete in skill against a lacquer craftsman from Kishu at Kanzaki-ji Temple in Mito. Because the finish of the Awano Shunkei-nuri piece was judged superior, the Inagawa family became the official lacquerware supplier to the Mito family, and its techniques were refined under the domain's patronage. It was designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Ibaraki Prefecture on January 25, 1989 (Heisei 1), but while there were five workshops in the 1950s-60s (Showa 30s), only the Inagawa family's workshop remains today, making the succession of the tradition a pressing concern.
Features
Its defining feature is the use of 'ishibi,' an especially hard variety of hinoki cypress, as the wooden base, which is tinted yellow or red and then coated repeatedly with transparent lacquer so the wood grain shows through. There is also a distinctive technique using a pale pink lacquer made with plum vinegar, and while a finished piece is brownish right after completion, its color deepens to a golden hue the more it is used. It is finished through a series of processes from wood selection and planing, to pegging with wooden nails, to undercoating, mid-coating, and final coating.
Materials Used
Production Process
- 1
Wood selection and planing
Ishibi hinoki cypress is cut into boards roughly two meters long, and the wooden base is shaped with a plane.
- 2
Polishing with horsetail reed and pegging
The surface of the wooden base is polished with horsetail reed (tokusa), and the parts are assembled using wooden pegs.
- 3
Undercoating and mid-coating
After the base is tinted yellow or red, lacquer is applied as an undercoat and mid-coat, and the piece is dried in an earthen room kept at around 80% humidity.
- 4
Final coating
A final coat of transparent lacquer is applied over the top, finishing the piece in a lustrous amber-to-brown hue that lets the wood grain show through.
Artisans & Workshops
稲川家（粟野春慶塗）
A workshop in Awano, Shirosato Town, that has carried on Awano Shunkei-nuri, founded in 1489 (Entoku 1), from generation to generation. The sole survivor among what were once five workshops, it continues to make lacquerware while preserving the traditional process.
How to Buy
- Inagawa Family (Awano Shunkei-nuri)
- The Inagawa family's workshop, also registered with the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, is the sole maker of Awano Shunkei-nuri. For purchase or visit inquiries, contact them directly by phone (029-289-3346).