Traditional craft
Kagawa Shikki
香川漆器
Lacquerware from Takamatsu and around Kagawa, famous for kinma, an engraved, colour-inlaid technique with roots in Southeast Asia.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 26 February 1976
- Type
- Lacquerware
- Region
- Shikoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 香川漆器
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 高松市、丸亀市、さぬき市、三豊市、観音寺市、木田郡三木町、仲多度郡まんのう町
Five techniques
Kagawa Shikki covers five techniques: kinma, zonsei, choshitsu carved lacquer, goto-nuri and zokoku-nuri. All of them grow deeper in tone and character with years of use. Kagawa makes the widest variety of lacquer items in Japan, from low tables and display shelves to trays, tea saucers and sweet dishes. It is made in Takamatsu and other towns in Kagawa.
Engrave, fill, polish
Kinma, the signature technique, is said to take its name from the fruit of a plant in Thailand. Many coats of lacquer are applied, the design is engraved into them with a fine blade, and coloured lacquer is pressed into the grooves. Red, yellow and other colours are carved and filled one by one, and when every colour is in, the surface is polished flat.
A master and a lord
Kagawa lacquer flowered under Matsudaira Yorishige, who came from Mito to rule the Takamatsu domain and protected the craft. In the late Edo period, Tamakaji Zokoku studied kinma and zonsei, techniques that had come from Thailand and China, added old Japanese methods, and created new ones. Craftsmen in and around Takamatsu carry on his techniques today.
Good to know
- Look closely at kinma pieces: the engraved lines filled with coloured lacquer link the technique to Southeast Asian lacquerware, and its name is said to come from a Thai plant.
- Choose a piece you will use often, since Kagawa lacquer gains depth over the years.
Questions travellers ask
What is kinma?
A technique where designs are engraved into layered lacquer and filled with coloured lacquer, then polished flat.
Who was Tamakaji Zokoku?
A late Edo lacquer master who studied techniques from Thailand and China and founded Kagawa lacquer's tradition.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.