SEKIBIKODO
Since ancient times, lacquerware has been enjoyed indoors and outdoors in Japan for tea ceremonies and banquets.
Nodate is a casual lacquerware brand born in 2010 based on the concept of "living and playing with lacquer".
Lacquer, a wood that is a blessing of nature, is water-resistant, extremely lightweight and durable, and highly portable. It is also antibacterial, acid and alkaline resistant, and can be repaired by kintsugi (metal splicing), repainting, and repairing cracks and chips.
Lacquerware has a history of more than 10,000 years in Japan, and its gentle touch should make you aware of the relationship between people and the earth, which we have almost forgotten in our current lifestyle.
Since its establishment in 1946, through the first and second generations, the company has devised lacquerware products utilizing Aizu lacquer techniques for various uses in addition to lacquerware, and has promoted them throughout Japan. Since the third generation, the company has continued to make new efforts with an eye on the times, and in 2005, together with young Aizu lacquerware managers, launched "BITOWA," a line of hotel-like, high-quality lifestyle tools, which has had a great impact both in Japan and abroad.
In 2010, they created "NODATE," a line of outdoor lacquerware that casualizes lacquer and has expanded the number of new lacquer fans beyond age, gender, and nationality. Since then, they have released lacquer products from unconventional perspectives, such as "urushiol," a tool for daily life that utilizes domestic lacquer, and "alphabeta," a commercial-type lacquer objet d'art.
In November 2022, the former head office and warehouse were renovated as the "Human Hub Tenneiji Warehouse," and the facility includes a shared workshop to support young lacquer craftsmen, a shared kitchen to support the 6th stage of local agriculture, a local lifestyle store, a shared cafe, a shared office, and a co-working space.
Aizu Wakamatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture is blessed with rich nature, forests and lakes, and is a town steeped in history and culture, Aizu Wakamatsu has been supported by advanced lacquer techniques since the Jomon period.
Throughout the thousands of years of its history, Aizu Wakamatsu has produced lacquerware tools suited to each era, but industrialization especially advanced around 1590, when Ujisato Gamo became the lord of the castle. Aizu was blessed with an abundance of wood, woodworkers, lacquer and lacquers, versatile maki-e (gold-relief lacquering) craftsmen, and a climate suitable for the production of lacquerware.
A hot and humid environment is essential for lacquer to harden. Aizu-Wakamatsu is located in a basin surrounded by mountains, with humid summers and heavy snowfalls in winter.
Aizu-Wakamatsu has played a major role in supporting the Japanese lacquerware industry for several hundred years, from the time of industrialization more than 400 years ago to the present.
・Singapore Award, "Japanese Souvenir Contest" sponsored by the Japan Tourism Agency, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
・GOOD DESIGN Award 2012, sponsored by JDP
・Special Prize, "Ask Rikyu" Male Tea Prize (NODATE), Gendai Chayu Award 2013, sponsored by Gendai Chayu Kyokai.
・J-Wave atelier nova DESIGN AWARD 2015 Nomination (NODATE)
・Selected for The Wonder 500 by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (NODATE)