Lacquer Trivials
What is the difference between lacquer and synthetic paints?
Lacquer is sap from the lacquer tree and is a totally natural liquid.
Synthetic paints are produced by synthetically composing molecules. Modern
technology has developed synthetic paints which have very similar molecular
structure to the natural lacquer; however, it is still difficult to
simulate its complex structure.
How is lacquer gathered ?
Lacquer is gathered from lacquer trees which are over 10 years of age and
are over 10 cm in diameter. From the middle of June to the end of October,
every 5 days from 4 in the morning, a cut is made on the tree from where
one drop of lacquer can be gathered. Sap is gathered from tens and hundreds
of lacquers trees, and after all the sap is gone, the tree is hewed down.
In other words, all the sap from one 10-year old lacquer tree is
gone in one year thereby ending the trees' usefulness. You can see how
precious these lacquer trees are.
How is lacquer dried ?
Things usually dry better in high-temperature low-humidity environments.
However, lacquer is dried in high-humidity environments where it hardens by
drawing out oxygen from the humidity. In practice, it is dried by being
placed in a high-humidity closet called "urushi-buro" (lacquer bath).
Since it takes from 12 to 24 hours for the final coating to dry, it is
placed in a rotating closet to prevent it from dripping.
What is the color of lacquer ?
It is semi-translucent light brown. Black lacquer is made by adding iron.
Other colored lacquers such as red, yellow, green, and blue are made by
mixing them with color additives. Radiant colors such as poster colors
cannot be created however. Since lacquer itself is not translucent, white
lacquer turns out to be beige-ish white. Also, as time goes by, lacquer
becomes harder, drier, and the color appears brighter. That is why the
color appears different on one which has been dry for a day, another for a
month, and another for half a year, even if they were all painted with the
same lacquer.
Lacquer ware handling guides
When the scent of fresh lacquer is too potent, place it in the shade with
a lot of breeze. It can also be placed in a rice bin for 2 to 3 days.
When washing the lacquer ware, do not leave in hot water for a long period
. Wash with luke warm water and rinse thoroughly. Quickly wipe off the
moisture with a used and dry cotton cloth.
Do not use in microwave or oven. Also, do not leave under direct sunlight
for a long period.
Natural lacquer ware is always "alive." The more it is used, the more beautiful and lustrous it will become
What is Negoro lacquer ?
The name Negoro comes from Negoro temple in Kishu. There was a monk in the
temple who made a lacquer ware for his daily use. Rather than aesthetics,
the monk wished for usefulness and durability, and his ware was applied
with many layers of black lacquer with a finishing coat of red. Using it
day after day produced a pattern. This combination of red and black was
later to be known as Negoro lacquer.
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