Kamakura-bori

During the Kamakura period the shogunate was established in Kamakura (Kanagawa prefecture), which flourished as the capital of Zen Buddhism in Japan. The wooden lacquerware craft passed down from that era has become Kamakura-bori of today’s Kamakura city. The origins of Kamakura-bori is considered to be temple furniture carving (such as shumidan altar piece and maetsukue table) and tsuishu (red lacquerware with patterns carved in relief) from China. The craft was undertaken by Buddhist image sculptors and passed on to the Muromachi, Momoyama and Edo periods, before falling into decline at the end of the Edo period. However, Kamakura-bori was revived during the Meiji period when the two Buddhist image making families Gotō and Mitsuhashi switched to making Kamakura-bori after losing their livelihood as a result of the anti-Buddhism movement. The exhibition of their works in and outside of Japan led to high appraisals and consequently boosted their confidence in the making of the craft. In addition to that, Kamakura-bori furniture also became much loved by famous people and people with high status (such as the imperial family) who set up villas in scenic Kamakura. This would in turn propel the development of Kamakura-bori. 

Gotō Shuntarō (1923-2006), grandson of Gotō 運久 who acquired carving techniques from 運久, vigorously produced pieces with a new sensation by incorporated Western carving styles into Kamakura-bori carving. He also contributed to the development of Kamakura-bori in ways such as writing the book Kamakura-bori (published by Shufu To Seikatsu Sha) on the history and techniques of Kamakura-bori. In 1977 Kamakura-bori was designated traditional craft of Kamakura as a production area by the then Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).

In an attempt to bring lacquerwares closer to daily use by making them lighter and more heat, acid and oil resistant, Kondō Keiko (the current proprietor of Hakkodō) proposes new Kamakura-bori products through re-designing and price adjustments to create new pieces at her Hakkodō workshop. Marketed with the brand name “Hakko”, Kamakura-bori products that include not only carved products, but also lacquerwares for daily use are now being exported from Kamakura.

One of the major features of Kamakura-bori is the decorative carving. Kamakura-bori is created using techniques inherited from Buddhist image sculptors and requires the use of a variety of carving knives to make. Another feature of Kamakura-bori is the visible traces of carving over the entire wooden piece. The movements of the carver seen in every part of the work brings out the beauty of art craft.

The making of Kamakura-bori is a job requiring sophisticated lacquering skills where the lacquer must ensure that all parts of the carved wood is evenly covered in lacquer, with no excess lacquer in any part of the carved wood. The image shows the lacquerer applying the layer of suki-urushi (clear lacquer) made from red lacquer with honshu (red pigment) added over the intermediate coat of black lacquer.