“I want to produce beautiful tableware we can use every day and be happy as I work” -this is how Mr. Shinichi Ohkura works as a lacquerware artist. As he designs, he pictures the kind of elaborate traditional Japanese dishes that his wife, a professional kaiseki chef prepares, which are presented on his tableware.

Mr. Ohkura’s father was a sashimonoshi (cabinetmaker), and he grew up surrounded by wooden products. After graduating from university, he worked in a plastic tableware factory. At first Mr. Ohkura enjoyed his work but soon the sameness of the mass-produced products and their patterns bored him.

His life started to change when he married a woman whose father was a kijishi (woodworker) of wajima lacquerware. Kijishi make the natural wood tableware that will have lacquer coatings applied to it. Inspired by his father-in-law, Mr. Ohkura then began his lacquerware apprenticeship.

漆器作家　大蔵信一は、伝統的な和食のための器以外にも、洋食器も手掛ける。

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• Dinner Plate φ24cm / Spoon 18cm / 八寸パーティ皿、スプーン / Lacquered Japanese Horse-chestnut (Tochi) / Magnolia

• Lidded Sake Vessel 12cm H12cm, Box 40cmx10cmxH4cm / Small Dish φ9cm H18cm / 蓋付酒器、長箱、花形小皿 / Lacquered Japanese Horse-chestnut/Japanese Linden (shina)

• Square Tray 35cmx35cm / Red & Gold Bowl φ12cm H10cm Small Bowl φ12cm H4.5cm / 角盆、金銀明椀、内銀小鉢 / Japanese Horse-chestnut/ Japanese Linden (shina)

• Thick Square Tray　36cmx36cm / Cupφ9cm,Chopsticks / 座皿、内銀カップ、箸 / Lacquered Japanese Cypress/Horse-chestnut / Imported wood (chopsticks)

This was in the 1970s and was when people lost their interest in traditional Japanese handicrafts. Lacquerware was not an exception and yet wajima craftsmanship with its long history did not allow for innovation. Mr. Ohkura felt that this attitude would hasten the decay of Japanese lacquerware, so he studied design at a night school for two years.

Mr. Ohkura’s first original product was a small lacquer cake knife. It became popular and sold well, which encouraged him to design new types of lacquerware. Now he designs both traditional Japanese and western tableware in various shapes and colors. Other than the traditional lacquer colors of red and black he also uses gold, silver, and green which he creates himself. When inspired he adds a finishing touch by drawing and scrolling freehand.
Mr. Ohkura, with his skilled hands and infinite care, is making tableware that literally brings color to your life.

漆(うるし)特有の黒や朱に留まらず、緑などの色素や金銀粉も彼は自在に操り、気が向けば、溢れ出るイメージをそのまま筆に託して絵付けをする。「楽しい気持ちで日々の美しい器を作りたい。」料理研究家である妻が作る料理を引き立てるための様々な器を作りながら、彼は常に高みを目指す。