Shioyasu lacquerware shop

Wajima-nuri is a type of lacquerware made in Wajima City, Japan, in which a thick base is applied to the wood to achieve both durability and beauty.

In particular, the most distinctive feature of Wajima-nuri is the base coated with diatomaceous earth, which is made from fossilized microorganisms, kneaded with water, baked, and then mixed with finely ground Wajima-jinoko (Wajima-ground powder) into the lacquer.

The technique was established around the Kyoho period of the Edo period, and today Wajima-nuri is a traditional Japanese craft that is well known even in foreign countries as high-end lacquerware.

Wajima-nuri is the only lacquerware production in Japan that has been designated by the national government as an important intangible cultural asset. 

Shioyasu was founded in 1858 when Chuzaemon Shioyasu became an independent Wajima-nuri lacquer craftsman.

In the beginning, he worked as a clad craftsman, undertaking the work of lacquering. It was Masanojo Shioyasu, the third generation, who started the business in 1907.Masanojo noticed that a railroad was being built from Hokuriku to the Chugoku region at the time, and he expanded his sales route to Tottori Prefecture.

In the Showa period, as Japan was recovering from the war, Seiji Shioyasu, the fourth generation, opened a store and established the foundation of the current Shioyasu Lacquer Ware Studio.

They continue to refine both the good old Wajima-nuri and the new Wajima-nuri today with the techniques passed down from the first generation and the ambition and efforts of our predecessors who have inherited these techniques.