About WAJIMAYA ZEN-NI 輪島屋善仁

Founded in 1813 in Wajima City, Ishikawa, Japan, with more than 200 years of tradition, Wajimaya Zen-ni is one of the most prestigious Wajima-nuri lacquerware manufacturers in Japan.

Their philosophy is to pursue and refine their capability to create lacquerware that is the best in history, without deviating in any way from the traditional methodology of Wajima lacquerware manufacturing.

* The photo shown here, "The house of Nushi" is now gone forever. Due to the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, turned down and burnt into ashes in the subsequent regional fire.

Eight Generations of Nushi-ya

People of Wajima know how Wajimaya Zen-ni's efforts and practices have been rigorous and tough in the ever-shrinking market and declining industry situation for these twenty years or more, especially where all the traditional skills, workmanship, and materials are diminishing. For instance, Wajimaya Zen-ni cultivates urushi lacquer trees themselves on a vast scale to preserve the quality and the supply of the urushi lacquer for their use. However tough the road, they are spirited to create lacquerware that emits beauty as it did 200 years ago.

Now a retired owner, Mr. Katsuro Nakamuro is the eighth-generation Nushi-ya (leading lacquerware coordinator), counting from the founder. He has been an avid researcher of Wajima lacquerware, an educator, and an advocate of the lacquerware industry with his authored books on Wajima lacquerware and on Wajima.

He leads the lacquerware industry with his enthusiasm, love, and respect for the beauty of traditional Japanese lacquerware and for Wajima. Currently, Mr.Kojiro Nakamuro, the son of Mr. Katsuro Nakamuro, successfully succeeds the Nushi-ya.

The Name Itself — "Wajima-ya"

You will be able to tell from their name "Wajima-ya" that they represent the Wajima lacquerware. In Japanese, "ya" denotes a house or a specialty; to take the name of the town itself is to claim responsibility for it.

Their creations, used and refined over many years, possess what is called the beauty of necessaries — a phrase Japanese use for objects of art and craft that earn their beauty through daily use rather than display. It is what you see in Wajimaya Zen-ni's work.

A Process That Can Refuse the One Before It

Wajimaya Zen-ni manufactures Wajima lacquerware — excluding the woodwork — with many in-house skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. They are proud of a process-oriented division of labour that has produced the finest lacquerware efficiently for two hundred years. Over the past two decades, they have reduced their total manufacturing capacity, but they have not stopped refining the creation of beauty in Wajima lacquerware.

Their governing principle is this: the work in process should possess perfect beauty at the end of each process, or else it is not worth moving on to the next.

Because every process is done by hand, Wajimaya Zen-ni holds a rule of process control — each process must hand over the piece in the very best condition for the process that follows.

Skilled craftsmen and craftswomen can tell how well a piece was finished in the process before theirs. So the latter process may refuse to accept a piece that has not been finished to the expected quality.

Consider polishing. The polisher can tell, by the feel of the surface, how well the piece was coated and dried at the coating stage. Quality here depends on roughness, evenness, and hardness. The coating should not be too hard, or it will resist polishing; it must have the right fineness, so that after polishing it holds the roughness the next coat needs in order to adhere. These differences are subtle enough that only a skilled hand can detect them.

Each craftsman and craftswoman feeds the result of their own process back to the one before, so that the whole may improve. Under this rule, quality control and improvement arise naturally at every stage. Each and every craftsman and craftswoman is proud and is respected at Wajimaya Zen-ni.

Kata and Inochi — What Lacquerware Is

Out of their long history, Wajimaya Zen-ni holds a belief about what the making of lacquerware is:

Urushi — the resin of the urushi lacquer tree — is the life (inochi) of the tree itself. The form (katachi) of lacquerware is created by the shape of the wood (kata) and by adding the life (inochi) of urushi. It is said among craftsmen that the urushi tree yields its resin knowing it will be felled once the resin has been taken. When the first coat of urushi is applied to the wooden core, the urushi soaks in as though returning to its origin. Wajimaya Zen-ni's creations are a recirculation of souls, and therefore a rebirth as lacquerware.

With this belief, and with highly motivated craftsmen and craftswomen, each process is elevated to work in which one's heart and soul is placed.

Every Piece, Certified

Wajimaya Zen-ni issues product authorisation information for each and every piece they make. It lists every person responsible for every process on that particular piece.

It is their expression of pride and of responsibility for what they have produced. Even among traditional Wajima lacquerware manufacturers, this is exceptional, and it is their way of stating that they stand behind the quality of their work.

Why Their Work May Not Catch Your Eye at First

Wajimaya Zen-ni's work may seem to lack splendour at first sight. It may not look flamboyant enough. That is their style, and their way of existence.

Their work may be humble; it is sturdy and firm. It may not catch your eye at once, but you will understand how good it is in the long run. Wajimaya Zen-ni knows what is best across a long history and tradition, with the heart to serve you with true quality.

We hope you will come to share this feeling through the use of Wajimaya Zen-ni's work, and that it will add enjoyment to your everyday life.

Kogei Styling is proud to serve as one of the very few authorised retailers, and the first for overseas sales, of this highly respected manufacturer.

　　　> Back to Wajimaya Zen-ni Urushi Lacquerware

To understand what makes Wajima-nuri distinct from other Japanese lacquerware, see History & Tradition of Japanese Lacquerware. For the material itself, see What is Urushi?