Wajima Lacquerware

Lacquerware produced in Wajima on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. It is a durable everyday lacquerware, and the joinery and curved wood bases are made from strong and resilient locally grown ate (a forestry variety of Hinoki Asunaro, a variety of Asunaro), and the sawn bowls are also made from locally grown zelkova. Wajima lacquerware, which boasts its robustness, is made by cutting the bowls horizontally by tilting a standing tree 90 degrees (the method of cutting is vertical from a sliced ​​log), and the upper edge and foot are covered with cloth for reinforcement, and the lacquer is applied over a base coat of diatomaceous earth (diatomaceous earth from Mt. Komine), a local specialty that has excellent lacquer absorption and adhesion, using unique techniques of genuine hard base coating. Its origins are said to date back to the Oei era (1394-1428) when monks from Negoro-ji Temple in Kishu (Wakayama Prefecture) traveled to Juren-ji Temple in Wajima to make tableware, but this is not certain. Also, the building inscription of Shigekura Shrine in the same area states that "Small craftsman and lacquerer Saburo Jiro Sadakichi" was involved in the construction of the hall in 1476, indicating the presence of a lacquerer. Daily tableware has been made in the Noto region since ancient times, but the discovery of Jino-ko powder in the Kanbun era (1661-1673) marked a major turning point.

Decoration techniques include chinkin (gold-lacquer work) and makie (lacquer painting), with chinkin being a distinctive Wajima technique that began in the Kyoho era (1716-1736) when Mikasaya Ihei, a lacquerware craftsman, returned from Matsumae (Hokkaido) with a skilled carver Rokubu and had him carve arabesque patterns into an inkstone box. Tate Junsuke elaborated on this technique, and his son Gasui studied painting in Kyoto and came up with the chinkin method of carving flowers and birds into lacquerware and then applying gold leaf. Since then, it has developed into Wajima chinkin to this day. Chinkin artists who have been recognized as holders of Important Intangible Cultural Properties (Living National Treasures) include Mae Taiho (1890-1977) and Mae Fumio (1940- ).

Wajima lacquerware is unique in its production and sales system, and was distributed throughout the country during the feudal period. Another distinctive feature is that the powder is produced by the Wajima Lacquerware Association, and there is a rule that it cannot be sold openly to anyone other than association members. From the end of the Edo period, the division of labor in production progressed, and the process from wood production to decoration was divided among six craftsmen (Wajima Rokusho): woodturners, joiners, and bentwood craftsmen, lacquerers, chinkin craftsmen, and maki-e craftsmen. In the mid-Meiji period, hookiji (making complex shapes and curved legs for flower stands and front desks for Buddhist altars, as well as carving) was separated from joiners, and variegated lacquerware (roiro) was separated from lacquerers, and the process split into eight crafts. In addition, lacquer makers also had a special structure where they doubled as wholesalers, and mainly produced to order. In the Edo period, they established a reliable production system, such as the establishment of a mutual trust association (Tanoshi-ko), which is equivalent to today's loans, and placing sales representatives in each block of the country to prevent competition. During the Tenpo era (1830-1844), they established a Kafuku-ko association to regulate the non-interference of customers, and in 1900 (Meiji 33), they renamed it the Wajima Lacquerware Trade Association. In 1946 (Showa 21), they established the Wajima City Lacquerware Research Institute, and in 1968, they established the Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Lacquerware Technical Training Center, and have continued their research for many years, focusing on training successors and mechanizing the manufacturing process. Even today, it is a representative lacquerware production area in Japan that continues to pass on traditional techniques, and the Wajima Lacquerware Technology Preservation Society has been designated as both an Important Intangible Cultural Property (certified as a holding organization) and a Traditional Craft. In addition to the two aforementioned people, Shiotake Ishiro (1926-2006) and Komori Kunie (1945- ) have also been recognized as Living National Treasures for their lacquerware. In addition, the Wajima Lacquerware Commerce and Industry Cooperative Association has collected 3,804 Wajima lacquerware production tools and products as Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties.

[Goka loyal retainer]

"Wajima Lacquerware" by Kiichi Harima and Shinichiro Kokin (1976, Hokkoku Publishing)" ▽ "General Theory by Hirokazu Arakawa: Wajima Lacquerware - History and Creation of Lacquer Culture" (1983, Kyoto Shoin)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

石川県能登(のと)半島の輪島で産する漆器。堅牢(けんろう)性に富む日常漆器で、指物(さしもの)・曲(まげ)物木地には強靭(きょうじん)で弾力のある地元産のアテ（檔。アスナロの変種ヒノキアスナロの林業品種）を使い、挽(ひき)物の椀(わん)木地にも地元産のケヤキを用いる。堅牢を誇る輪島塗は、立木を90度傾けた形で椀をとる横挽き（輪切りにした原木からとる取り方は縦挽き）で、補強のため上縁や高台に布(ぬの)着せを施し、漆の吸い込みや食いつきに優れた特産の地(じ)の粉(こ)（小峰山産出の珪藻土(けいそうど)）を下地に用いて塗り重ねるなど、特有の本堅地塗りの技法を駆使している。起源については、応永(おうえい)年間（1394～1428）に紀州（和歌山県）根来(ねごろ)寺の僧が輪島の重蓮寺に下向して器物をつくったのに始まるとされるが、さだかではない。また同地の重蔵(しげくら)神社の棟札(むなふだ)には、文明(ぶんめい)8年（1476）に「小工塗師(ぬし)三郎次郎定吉」が堂の建立に従事したとあり、塗師の存在を示している。能登地方では古くから日常食器がつくられたが、寛文(かんぶん)年間（1661～73）の地の粉の発見が大きな転機となった。

　加飾では沈金(ちんきん)や蒔絵(まきえ)が行われ、とくに沈金は輪島の特色ある技法で、享保(きょうほう)年間（1716～36）漆器業の三笠屋伊平が松前（北海道）から彫刻に巧みな六部(ろくぶ)を伴って帰り、硯箱(すずりばこ)に唐草を彫らせたのに始まる。館順助がこれにくふうを凝らし、さらに息子の雅水が京都で絵を学び、漆器に花鳥などを彫って金箔(きんぱく)を付着する沈金法を考案した。以来今日まで輪島沈金として発達した。重要無形文化財保持者（人間国宝）に認定された沈金作家に前大峰(まえたいほう)（1890―1977）、前史雄(ふみお)（1940―　）がいる。

　輪島塗はその生産と販売機構に特色があり、幕藩期には全国にわたって流通した。また地の粉を輪島漆器組合で自製し、組合員以外には公然と販売しない規約があるのも特色といえよう。江戸末期からは生産の分業化が進み、木地の生産から加飾まで、輪島を中心とした近在の町々で分業でつくられ、挽物・指物・曲物の各木地師、塗師、沈金、蒔絵の6職（輪島六職）に分かれた。明治中ごろには朴木地(ほおきじ)（花台、仏具の前机などの複雑な形やカーブした脚などをつくったり、さらに彫刻を施すこと）が指物から分かれ、塗師から変わり塗り（蝋色(ろいろ)）が独立して8職に分かれた。また塗師屋が問屋を兼ねる特殊な機構をもち、注文生産を主として、江戸時代にすでに今日のローンにあたる頼母子講(たのもしこう)を設置、競合防止のため全国各ブロックごとに販売担当者を置くなど、堅実な生産体制を築いた。天保(てんぽう)年間（1830～44）には遐福(かふく)講をおこして得意先の不可侵を規定し、1900年（明治33）これを輪島漆器同業組合と改称。46年（昭和21）には輪島市漆器研究所、68年には石川県立輪島漆芸技術研修所を設置し、技術後継者の育成と製造工程の機械化に意を用い、多年研究を続けている。現在も伝統的技法を伝える日本の代表的漆器産地で、輪島塗技術保存会は重要無形文化財（保持団体認定）と伝統的工芸品の二つの指定を受けている。人間国宝には前述2名のほか、髹漆(きゅうしつ)（漆塗り）で塩多慶四郎(しおだけいしろう)（1926―2006）、小森邦衛(くにえ)（1945―　）が認定を受けている。また重要有形民俗文化財として、輪島漆器商工業協同組合収集の輪島塗製作用具および製品3804点がある。

［郷家忠臣］

『張間喜一・古今伸一郎著『輪島漆器』（1976・北国出版社）』▽『荒川浩和総論『輪島塗――漆文化の歴史と創造』（1983・京都書院）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例