Traditional craft
Kiso Shikki
木曽漆器
Sturdy lacquerware from Nagano's Kiso valley on the old Nakasendo road, made from Kiso hinoki and strengthened with a local clay.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 17 February 1975
- Type
- Lacquerware
- Region
- Chubu
- Official name in Japanese
- 木曽漆器
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 松本市、塩尻市、木曽郡木曽町
Three Kiso finishes
Kiso Shikki has three signature finishes. Shunkei-nuri lets the natural beauty of the wood show. Kiso tsuishu builds up many layers of coloured lacquer and sands them back to reveal a mottled pattern. Nuriwake roiro-nuri paints geometric patterns in different coloured lacquers and polishes the surface. It is made in Shiojiri, Matsumoto and Kiso town in Nagano as low tables, trays, meal tables, stacked boxes, soba tableware, vases and furniture.
Clay in the base
For shunkei-nuri, lacquer is rubbed into hinoki so the wood keeps its natural character. For tsuishu, a hard base is made with local sabitsuchi clay, coloured lacquers go on in layers, and sanding brings out the stripes. For nuriwake roiro-nuri, each colour is painted to fit the pattern and the surface is polished.
Souvenirs of the Nakasendo
Kiso Shikki began in the early 17th century in a valley already known for woodwork from its rich hinoki forests, and it grew under the protection of the Owari Tokugawa domain. Kiso lacquerware was a popular souvenir for travellers on the Nakasendo road. In the early Meiji period, a clay called sabitsuchi was found at Narai, and mixing it into the base made Kiso ware tougher than before.
Good to know
- Visit Google Maps 奈良井宿 (opens in a new tab), the Nakasendo post town where the sabitsuchi clay was found.
- Kiso lacquer soba trays and bowls make practical souvenirs.
Questions travellers ask
Why is Kiso Shikki so durable?
Its base uses sabitsuchi, an iron-rich local clay found at Narai in the early Meiji period.
What is shunkei-nuri?
A finish where lacquer is rubbed into the wood so the natural grain of the hinoki shows.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Chikuma, city of the moon: the moon in every rice terrace
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Kawachinagano: a town where the Middle Ages live on
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
- Oyama Mairi: the Edo people's pilgrimage and day out
- Starry Jomon highlands: obsidian mines of central Japan
- The Kiso Road: life in the mountains on the Nakasendo
- Ueda's Shioda-daira: the ley line of sun and earth
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.