Joboji (see the map on Google Map) is a town in Iwate Prefecture with a population of approximately 5,000. It is no longer an independent administrative section after it underwent merger with neighboring Ninohe City in 2006. Yet Joboji is still known for the central site for urushi and the name is normally used when referring to its production.
In this area, there is a traditional art craft called “Joboji-nuri,” meaning urushi ware made in Joboji. In the Nara era, starting and ending in eighth century, a Buddhist priest Gyoki built Tendai Temple in Joboji, and priests from Tokyo brought urushi techniques to the area [1]. Since then, it has been a famous productive site of urushi ware as well as urushi, both for local uses and export to other parts of the country.
In the Edo Period, the ruler at that time eagerly promoted planting urushi for tree sap and seeds. In order to collect seeds every year, they tried to keep trees alive for several years; this methodology of urushi-kaki is called yojogaki. After the Meiji era, when demand of seeds decreased and tree sap increased, a group of urushi-kaki workers called Echizensyu came from Fukui Prefecture and brought technique of koroshigaki, a methodology to tap trees and cut them down in one year, to the region [2].
Like other sites, industrialization brought a change of lifestyle and production of “Joboji-nuri” was abandoned in 1930’s. However, production of urushi, not ware but tree sap as material was kept in those years, as there was still a demand for it such as industrial and artistic uses. This small town in Iwate will became the center of revitalization of urushi industry in the late 20th century, but I'll talk about it on another post.
[1] Joboji Town History Editorial Committee ed., Joboji Choshi (Joboji Town History). Iwate: Joboji Town, 1997.
[2] Kudo, Koichi. Nambu no Urushi wo Sasaeta Hitobito: Echizensyyu no Kiseki (People Who Supported Urushi in Nambu: The Path of Echizensyu) Iwate:Kawaguchi Insatsu Kogyo, 2006.
