Hakuza Wood Gold Leaf Plate

Gold-Platinum Leaf ・ Yamanaka Lacquerware ・ Ishikawa, Japan

Two Faces, One Plate
The upper surface is gold-platinum leaf, applied broadly and with intention. The underside is left as it came from the lathe — sen wood, its grain visible, its warmth unaltered. The contrast between the two faces is the design: not decoration applied to a neutral object, but two materials given equal consideration and placed in deliberate opposition. Flipped, the plate reads differently, and that reversibility is part of what makes it worth looking at from more than one angle.

The Leaf Follows the Wood
Gold leaf is soft — thin enough that it conforms to whatever lies beneath it rather than lying flat. On this plate, that means the leaf takes on the fine surface topography of the wood: the subtle undulations left by the lathe, the faint irregularities of the grain. Where the leaf gathers and folds, wrinkles form; where it stretches over a rise, it catches the light differently. The result is a surface that shifts with the angle of view — not a uniform gold, but a gold that has absorbed the character of the material beneath it. No two plates will have the same pattern of fold and sheen.

Yamanaka Lacquerware: The Craft Behind the Thinness
The plate is turned using the lathe techniques of Yamanaka lacquerware — a tradition from Yamanakaonsen in Ishikawa Prefecture, distinguished above all by its ability to produce forms that are extraordinarily thin without losing structural integrity. Turning sen wood (Japanese ash) to this degree of fineness requires both a deep knowledge of the wood's behavior and a precision of hand that comes only from long practice. The lightness of the finished plate — easy to lift with one hand, easy to carry to the table — is not incidental to the design. It is what the craft makes possible.

Kanazawa: The Gold Leaf Tradition Behind Hakuza
Hakuza's workshop is based in Kanazawa, a city that has produced over 99% of Japan's gold leaf for more than 400 years. Turning a piece of gold alloy roughly the size of a coin into a sheet as large as a tatami mat — without dulling its shine — takes years to master. Among the techniques passed down in Kanazawa is entsuke kinpaku, recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020. Rather than simply stretching the gold thinner, artisans press it between sheets of handmade gampi paper that has been treated with straw ash lye, persimmon tannin, and egg white, then beaten for six months to prepare it. The goal is to transfer the paper's own fiber structure onto the foil's surface — a texture that scatters light instead of reflecting it flatly, giving the gold a softer, more layered depth than foil pressed on plain paper. It's this craft that shapes every piece Hakuza makes.

Three Sizes — for the Table, and Beyond
The plate is offered in three sizes: S (approx. 5.9 in diameter) for individual servings, small sweets, or a single piece of cheese; M (approx. 8.3 in) for a composed dish or a small selection of foods; and L (approx. 11.8 in) for a spread of appetizers, a cheese board, or as a centerpiece tray. Any size can also be set aside from the table entirely — placed on a shelf, a sideboard, or a windowsill, it works as a display object. The two leaf tones available — Eieniro (warm gold, 99% pure gold and 1% platinum) and Kuon-iro (complex gold-platinum, 92% pure gold and 8% platinum) — offer a choice in register: warmer and brighter with Eieniro, quieter and cooler with Kuon-iro.