Wajima lacquer artisans struggle to preserve craft after 7.5-magnitude quake

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day 2024 devastated Wajima on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, destroying hundreds of homes and studios and displacing master lacquer artisans who are working to keep Wajima’s lacquer tradition alive and to train the next generation.

The quake triggered fires and landslides, damaged or collapsed some 60,000 buildings and killed more than 240 people. Before the disaster most of Wajima’s roughly 700 artisans worked in home studios that together formed “an interconnecting studio” for producing Wajima-nuri, a government-designated Traditional Craft of Japan prized for its durability and made using urushi lacquer and local clay.

The government financed 85 emergency prefabricated lacquer studios at a cost of $8.5 million and built more than 3,000 housing units, but many lacquer companies and workshops were heavily damaged and artisans say the temporary spaces are too small to return to prequake production.

Lacquer is a slow, specialist craft learned through long apprenticeships and involving more than 100 steps, with techniques such as chinkin, maki-e and raden and humidity-controlled curing in an urushi miro. A study by the Wajima Lacquerware Commerce & Industry Cooperative found that about two-thirds of the town’s lacquerware workers are over 60, and officials say income prospects make it hard to attract young people.

Key Topics

Culture, Wajima Lacquer, Wajima, Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, Urushi