The History of Urushi - 1: From Ancient to Modern

The history of urushi utilization in Japan dates back to about 9,000 years ago in the Jomon Period.  Since that time, it has been used as an adhesive and protective material for daily necessities, especially tableware, as well as aristocratic art crafts, buildings, and other industrial purposes.  In order to meet the multiple demands, urushi was planted in areas all over the country from southern Hokkaido to Kyusyu island. 

The production of urushi remarkably expanded in Edo era, seventeenth to eighteenth century, when many daimyos, feudal loads, eagerly promoted its cultivation; it was a profitable cash crop because, not only its tree-sap, but also its seeds could also be sold as material for candles.  In this period, the modern urushi industry, based on division of labor and sectors, was established and each region eagerly developed individualistic techniques for cultivation of urushi or artworks.  The trend lasted until the Meiji Restoration in late nineteenth century, by which hans, their feudal domains were disassembled and Japan started to import urushi from foreign countries.