Lacquered Dragonfly: Kamakurabori lesson and Nature based solution 鎌倉彫

 

Once upon a time when people did not know plastics, woods were important materials to make daily-use tools, like dishes and boxes. In a long long history of human life, such usage of wood has often induced artistic creativity all over the world. We now have many kinds of beautiful boxes created by artists worldwide. So far, it’s obvious, right? Now let’s talk about the issue for 2026 in Japan. Yep, there is on-off opening of Strait of Hormuz. Petro can be hard to come by, and so easy availability of plastic tools would be problematic. Still, the demand for organic alternatives, for, say, wood trays, was not so much as before. Accordingly, demand for jobs of artists specialized in wood craft is limited at best. Perhaps, this also is the condition all over the world, I guess. The other day, I had a chance to chat with artists about this topic and realized such limited demand for traditional crafts has resulted in many consequences in its supply chain. Before going into the matter, let me tell you about my adventure of chatting with the artists. I was instructed to craft wood dragonfly in Kamakurabori by the artists for Kamakurabori. Curving an insect itself was fun, and you can also try it in Kamakura.

A corner found in Kamakura

Kamakurabori is curved lacquer ware made of Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum). The origin of this craft was imported Buddhist altar equipment during the 13th century from China. At that time, Kamakura was practically the capital city of Japan. It made the city a hub for talented sculptors who contributed to the construction of many temples in Kamakura. They saw beautiful imports and burst open their creativity which became called Kamakura-bori. During these 800 years, the technique expanded into not only altar equipment but also tools for daily life. It is still popular, I think. But not as before in Shogunate Period of 17th century. So, the union of Kamakurabori artists engages in public relations effort these days. Their activity hub is Kamakurabori Kogeikan and Kamakurabori Kaikan in Kamakura City. Both facilities are combination of museum + shop + seminar rooms. In these seminar rooms, they provide regular Kamakura-bori lessons. Some classes are arranged for tourists, domestic and international. If you’re interested in attending such opportunities, please make a contact with the addresses below and ask if their schedule matches with your own. I attended one of these lessons in Kamakurabori Kogeikan last month.

One of our household possessions of Kamakura-bori.
It’s a Kleenex box cover.

First, I have to assure you I’m a complete novice for wood curving. Still, their lesson was enjoyable for me. They prepared all the tools and materials to curve a small craft in 3 hours by an absolute newcomer. There were several choices, flowers, plants, and dragonfly, for what to curve. I chose a dragonfly.

What they have prepared for us.

First stick double sided tape, then

Locate the thing on a mini workbench like this.

The artists instructed us how to hold graver, and to start tracing the draft they provided on the material for us. The graver was a single-edged knife, so when we outlined, it made an angled cut. Next, we inserted our graver from the opposite direction. It created a curved line. The basics were just that, and we concentrated on graving for about 2 hours. Surprisingly, my dragonfly came out!

Hold the workbench like this.

The way to hold the graver is
the same for holding a pencil.

Getting there …

Done!
The one looks far smarter than mine on the right
is an example made by the pro.
No problem. Mine is still lovely.

Next, we lacquered our work with lacquer-like paint. When we want the real thing, it takes days to apply and process the lacquer painting which is beyond casual fun. We did not do it, but still mine looked authentic!

The workbench for lacquering

My dragonfly. Precious.

All were so fun, but daily life is hard. Using these everyday items made of Kamakurabori would be nice, but surely trays of Kamakurabori cannot be found in a dollar shop. As the demand has been dwindling, not only the Kamakurabori products but also its raw materials has become harder to obtain, the artists said. The most famous example is lacquer. Japan has many places where lacquer-ware is traditional specialty, including Kamakurabori for Kanagawa. But these days domestic supply of lacquer is just 9% of our total usage (as of November 2022). 91% is imports mainly from China. The texture cannot be the same as for the carvings of 17th century. The next problem is wood. Yes, there are lots of Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) in Japanese forest, but who would harvest them from hilly deep forests of Japan? Another problem is their size. Kamakurabori uses the center part of a trunk. Say, when we want to have 30cm diameter of a tray, the tree needs at least 60cm diameter. Unlike construction materials, concentric circle of wood grain is important for Kamakura-bori tray. So sawing up the material must be satisfied with such requirements, and hence the condition of original lumber. Unfortunately, it now becomes more and more difficult to secure a meaningful size of diameter. In addition, to find such suitable tree professional eyes are important. But as the demand for Kamakurabori goes down, pros with the skill also become a rare existence. The artists also pointed out that standard drying of construction lumber does not satisfy prerequisites for Kamakurabori materials. Katsura tree lumber must go through one or two more stages of drying in order to endure specific touches of Kamakurabori curving and several layers of lacquering. The skill to condition lumber with the process is hard to come by these days. The same story for swordsmith of graver, for charcoal powder and makomo powder for polishing the curved works …

Yes, there are
the other broad-leaved trees in Japanese forest.
But can they be for Kamakurabori?

The artists of Kamakurabori these days are trying to use the other trees, not Katsura, for their work, searching for the 21st century version of processing lumber for Kamakurabori, compounding alternatives for traditional lacquer, etc. etc. Yeah. It must be a part of creative destruction for human activity of production. We never know what will come out from such endeavor. I think one thing is sure: it will take time to have a new development of traditional Kamakurabori technique, which must include an establishment of the 21st century supply chain of materials. People may simply say Nature Based Solution will find a good hint from traditional artisanal approaches for what nature provides. But. Kamakurabori has been sustained by an entire supply chain from forests to Kleenex box cover, that has reached some optimal solutions after 800 years. Once it was broken, finding another optimum is not so easy. Nbs. Big matter in many senses.

Hand mirrors with Kamakurabori,
available in Kamakurabori Kogeikan

If you’re interested in Kamakurabori, please make contact with these two institutions. Both of them have nice shop for Kamakurabori. 😉

Kamakurabori Kaikan 鎌倉彫会館

2-15-13 Komachi, Kamakura, Kanagawa, 248-0006
〒248-0006 神奈川県鎌倉市小町2-15-13
Phone: 0467-25-1500
kyoudoukumiai@kamakuraborikaikan.jp
https://kamakuraborikaikan.jp/

Kamakurabori Kogeikan 鎌倉彫工芸館

3-4-7 Yuigahama, Kamakura, Kanagawa, 248-0014
〒248-0014 神奈川県鎌倉市由比ガ浜3-4-7
Phone: 0467-23-0154
https://www.kamakurabori-kougeikan.jp/