An automatically gathered archive
漆 Urushi
Everything I could find about Japanese urushi lacquer, gathered in one place.
When I started learning urushi, what existed in English was thin and scattered — a museum page here, a supplier note there, a forum thread, and the genuinely instructive material locked inside workshop videos in languages I don't read. It was frustrating enough that I built something to gather it all automatically instead: 68 channels, 4,748 videos, 1,245 hours of practice, indexed, translated and written up into one reference.
The material
A finish that rewards patience.
Urushi is tree sap, transformed through humidity, time, and a sequence of thin, exacting coats. This guide brings together the sources, vocabulary, and working methods a serious beginner needs to start well.
A considered beginning
Find your way in
Three chapters to read before the first coat.
Understand the material
What urushi is, how it cures, and the safety practices that need to come first.
Read chapter →02Build your working setup
Choose the necessary tools, prepare your workspace, and make a dependable curing box.
Read chapter →03Make your first finish
Start with fuki-urushi, then deepen your practice with traditional layered finishes.
Read chapter →Six parts · 38 chapters
The whole guide
Use it as a complete book, or enter wherever your work is taking you.
Open the handbook →Foundations
Material, safety, grades, and a practical workshop.
Gear & Buying Guides
The tools that make clean, dependable work possible.
Core Techniques
From the substrate to a composed final finish.
Decoration
Gold, shell, engraving, and expressive surface.
Applications
Methods adapted for the objects you make.
Reference
Diagnosis, vocabulary, sources, and practitioners.
“Every layer is an opportunity to leave the surface clearer, more even, and more alive than before.”
— The guiding principle of slow lacquer workLearn from the makers
A working library, with its sources intact.
4,748 videos across 68 channels from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and beyond — 1,245 hours of workshop practice, transcribed and translated into step-by-step methods that name their source and the second it came from.