Hatakenaka

Kawada, Echizen lacquerware region, Fukui Prefecture

Led by master lacquerer Shoichi Hatakenaka – honored as a “Contemporary Master Craftsman” (Gendai no Meiko) – and now carried forward with his son Shinya. The workshop is known for “kodaishu,” a deep, muted vermillion so difficult to apply evenly that few lacquerers attempt it. The studio still hand-refines part of its own lacquer using the traditional “te-kurome” method – stirring raw lacquer by hand in a wide wooden basin under a full day of direct summer sun, rather than using a machine refiner.