urushi– tag –

The Bento Box as Object: Magewappa, Lacquer, and the Design of a Meal Eaten Cold Almost every container in the world exists to move food from one place to another. The Japanese bento box was designed to do something harder — to keep a bowl of rice worth eating four hours after it stopped being hot, without a lid tha...

The Sap That Becomes an Heirloom: Urushi and the Long Life of Lacquer A tree bleeds a poisonous resin. A carver shapes wood. A painter draws in gold dust no thicker than pollen. And an object is made that is meant to outlive the person who made it — if the tree survives at all. There is a particular kind of object t...

Why Japanese Chefs Still Choose Lacquerware In a world of ceramic, glass, and stainless steel, the lacquered wood bowl persists — in home kitchens, in Michelin-starred restaurants, in temple offerings, in New Year boxes. The reasons are older than any of those alternatives, and more precise than they first appear. L...