[VILLAGE Report vol.41] The last of the three great lacquerwares | Fukushima Prefecture

We enter Tohoku. Fukushima Prefecture’s nationally designated crafts are Aizu lacquerware, Aizu Hongo ware, Obori Soma ware, Oku-Aizu Showa karamushi weaving, Oku-Aizu woven basketry these 5 items.

The Three Great Lacquerwares Have Come Together

Aizu lacquerware (Fukushima), Yamanaka lacquerware (Ishikawa, vol.31), and Kishu lacquerware (Wakayama, vol.18). These three are called Japan’s Three Great Lacquerwares.

All three followed different ways of life.

• Kishu with the volume of everyday use
• Yamanaka with woodturning skill
• Aizu is, through the domain’s industrial policy

The foundations of Aizu lacquerware are said to have been laid by Gamo Ujisato, who entered Aizu during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. He brought lacquer craftspeople from his hometown of Omi Hino and launched it as an industry.

In the Ishikawa (vol.31) and Toyama (vol.32) issues, we wrote about domains inviting artisans. Aizu is one of the earliest examples of this.

A feature of Aizu lacquerware is its wide range of decoration, including keshifun powder and the technique of sprinkling iron powder over lacquer and letting it rust, rust painting among others.

Kilns That Continue After Evacuation

Obori Soma ware is a type of pottery that has been fired in the Obori district of Namie Town in Hamadori.

It has two features.

• Running horse: A painting of a horse from the Soma domain. Over green glaze, in a single brushstroke,
• Double-wall firing: the vessel is made double-walled, creating a layer of air in between. Even when something hot is placed inside, the outside is less likely to become hot

This production area, because of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident, saw its kilns forced to evacuate to various places.

Even so, some makers opened kilns in the places where they evacuated. Because pottery uses local clay and glaze materials, this is not an easy thing to do.

In the Shimane issue (vol.12), we wrote about a craft that disappeared once and then returned. Obori is an example of changing place in order not to disappear.

ramie and wild grapevine

Oku-Aizu Showa karamushi weaving is a craft in which ramie fibers are drawn by hand into thread and woven.

In this series, hemp textiles are appearing for the third time, after Shiga (vol.21) and Niigata (vol.33). All are places with heavy snow and high humidity.

Oku-Aizu woven basketry are baskets made by weaving mountain plants such as silver vine, hiroro grass, and wild grapevines.

Like Toyooka kiryu basketry from Hyogo (vol.24), they are tools for “putting things in and carrying them.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What kind of pottery is Aizu Hongo ware?
A. It is a kiln fired in Hongo, Aizumisato Town, and is among the oldest in Tohoku. It is distinctive for having made both earthenware and porcelain, and is known for vessels with amber-colored ame-yu glaze.

Next issue, we go to Miyagi. It is a story about inkstones.

References: Fukushima Prefecture, Aizuwakamatsu City, Aizumisato Town, Namie Town, Showa Village, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team