VILLAGE Report vol.2 Aomori Prefecture | Tsugaru lacquerware, the 40-plus rounds once called “foolish lacquering”

Tsugaru lacquerware in Aomori Prefecture has another name by which it has long been known locally: Tsugaru no baka-nuri, or Tsugaru's foolishly painstaking lacquer. It is a compliment.

According to materials from Aomori Prefecture, Tsugaru lacquerware began about 300 years ago. It is said to have been started in the era of Nobumasa, the fourth lord of the Tsugaru domain, by Ikeda Genbei, a lacquerer retained by the domain. It was designated a national Traditional Craft Product in 1975 and an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 2017. It was the first such designation for Aomori Prefecture.

Why Baka-nuri?

The wooden base uses hiba, a specialty of Aomori Prefecture. From there, the process is long. The base is built up by repeated polishing and lacquering, then finished with the distinctive shikake and saishiki of Tsugaru lacquerware. The process takes more than 40 steps and a little over two months. Because it is so painstakingly made, people called it foolishly careful, and that became its nickname.

Four Techniques

• Kara-nuri --The best-known technique, layering speckled patterns.
• Nanako-nuri --Small rings link together like fish roe.
• Nishiki-nuri --Using nanako-nuri as a base, additional patterns are drawn in.
• Monsha-nuri --Patterns appear as if sunken into a ground of black lacquer.

Under the single name Tsugaru lacquerware, there are four completely different faces. Crafts that are often grouped together by the name of their production area always branch out when you look closer.

Last time, we visited Hokkaido's Nibutani ita and Nibutani attus. Next time is Iwate Prefecture and Nambu ironware.

References: Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Aomori Prefecture Tsugaru Lacquerware Cooperative Federation

—The Value Village Editorial Team

Photo: Kaburamata / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)