Lacquerware has long been produced in Japan and can still be found in everyday use today. Also known in other countries as one of Japan’s famous traditional crafts, lacquerware is essential for all sorts of purposes, from everyday containers such as bowls to coatings for portable shrines (small enclosures that house holy objects believed to contain deities, mounted onto two long poles for townspeople to carry that are paraded around town on celebratory occasions).

Of all the lacquerware in the country, Edo shikki lacquerware is found in familiar objects such as utensils for eating soba noodles or the boxes in which eel is served. The layering of lacquer on lacquer, scrutinized as it dries, engenders a distinct richness in the finished product.