Roiro

Broadly speaking there are two main finishes in urushi. These are nuri-tate and ro-iro. Nuri-tate refers to the finish that is achieved by applying the final coat of urushi and doing no other work on it after it has dried. Ro-iro is a repeated process of rubbing urushi into the top coat and then polishing it. At the end, the final polishing is carried out using the skin of the hand until even the tiniest scratches have been removed. The resultant mirror-like finish which is unique to urushi sets off the gold and silver decorative work.