Hira Maki-e

Compare with the Taka Maki-e, the Hira Maki-e is not that look like three-dimension. It has been raised above the surface with the height of gold powder and several layers of lacquer.

Taka Maki-e

A method of raising shapes by applying the substance, which is mixed charcoal or mineral powders with the lacquer above a flat surface. When it gets dried, polishing the raised part to make it smooth. Appling any maki-e technique onto the raised surface is called 『Taka Maki-e』.

If your thumb glides over the surface, you will feel the three-dimension.

Togidashi Maki-e

Technique in which maki-e is first applied on the lacquer ground and then completely covered with additional layers of black lacquer, hiding the maki-e decoration. The surface is subsequently polished with fine pumice and powders until the decoration reappears, now incorporated into the totally flat polished surface.

Shishiai Maki-e

The technique is as similar as Taka Maki-e, it’s three-dimension but more up and downs. This is also known as ”Shishiai Togidashi Maki-e”, and it is the highest level of Maki-e requiring very advanced techniques.

Raden (Seashell)

The abalone shell is placed on the ground and flattened with a hard stone into very thin pieces. These pieces are then affixed to the coating of lacquer.

The inside surface stratum of various shells such as turban, trumpet and ear shaped shells etc. are pealed off in a thin layer. They are then cut into small pieces and these are coated with Urushi lacquer to secure them in place. This is then burnished to create a finish.

Rankaku (Egg Shell)

The design is created to using small pieces or powder of quail shells.

It is boded to the Urushi lacquer and coated with lacquer. Then, the surface of the lacquer is burnished to reveal the design.

The work is used the crumbled eggshell flakes to complete this piece of work. First of all, crumbling eggshell into tiny piece of flakes, and pasting the eggshell piece by piece. Not only takes time to pasting such tiny flakes by hand, but also considers about the balance of display, it needs to choose the proper shape of eggshell to pasting within the space.

Harikiri Maki-e

With this technique, gold powder is lavishly sprinkled over a design and carefully removed again with a needle in chosen areas, so that the original painting will glimpse though the golden dust.

Kakiwari Maki-e

In this most difficult and time-consuming technique, the design is freely drawn by hand onto the surface of object, requiring the artist’s extraordinary skill.

Kanshitsu

It's made by an ancient passed-on manner called Kanshitsu, which is a technique, is used to form the fundamental body by using only lacquers and clothe. Layers of cloth and lacquer are let dry over a wood form. When the body has stiffened, it is removed from the wood form and receives further layers of lacquer reinforced with cloth until the demanding thickness has been reached.

Since there is no wood inside the body, it’s light and extraordinarily durable.

Kawari Nuri

This technique is called『変り塗り』.

The artist used different colors of lacquer material to paint at varied layers.

The specific part is that the density of color paint is made to be much thicker than usual, as in the making process, each color paint of layer needs to be wrinkled to cause the height of discrepancy. After milling the products surface into smooth, it will show the color pattern like rhinoceros skin because of the height of discrepancy.

Kinji

Golden surface that be sprinkled with fine gold dust and polished to a high gloss.

Nashiji

Small, irregular flakes of gold foil

Suspended at varying angles in many layers of translucent brown lacquer. The resulting shimmering surface is often used for insides and bottoms of boxes. The resulting shimmering surface is often used for inside and bottom of boxes.

 Chinkin

Chinkin is the technique of decorating lacquer-ware by carving the designs into the lacquered surface using a sharp chisel. Gold or silver powder, alternatively black or colored lacquer, is inlayed into the carved design.

A surface is coated with oil less Urushi lacquer and designs are carved on the surface lacquer with a special carving chisel. Precious metal leaf and powder are the inlayed in the cut patterens.

Tsuisyu

The technique is stacking the color paint a layer by a layer. Painting the next layer after the front layer it dried. It takes almost one or two days to dry only one layer. So that it spent almost one year half to accumulate this thickness.

Hyoumon (Foil)

Various metal sheets such as gold, silver and tin are cut out into the desired design and bonded to the Urushi lacquer. These metal figures are then secured in place with further layers of lacquer. The surface of the Urushi lacquer is burnished with charcoal to reveal the embedded design.