Takaoka Doki

From desk ornaments to great Buddhas

Takaoka Doki is cast copper alloy, made with 13 techniques chosen by product and intent. Its range runs from desk ornaments, vases, incense burners and panels to bronze statues and even great Buddha statues. Work is divided among specialists in prototypes, casting, finishing, polishing, colouring, chasing and inlay. It is made in Takaoka in Toyama.

Cast, then finished

• Metal is melted and poured into a mould. Traditional moulds include baked yakigata, sogata and rogata lost-wax moulds.
• Once cool, the piece is taken out of the mould.
• It is finished with chasing and colouring.
• For zogan inlay, a groove wider at the bottom than the top is cut and filled with gold or silver so it can never come out. Before colouring, the piece is washed with grated daikon radish so the metals show their colours well.

Seven casters for the Maeda

In the early Edo period the Kaga Maeda domain invited seven casters skilled in the methods of Kawachi Tannan, the birthplace of casting, and opened a foundry. The craft grew through karakane castings such as vases and Buddhist objects decorated with chasing. In the Meiji era Takaoka bronze was shown at the Paris Exposition and became known worldwide, and Takaoka grew to about 90% of Japan's production.