Echizen Lacquerware
licensed photographAsturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0

Fukui · SabaeNo.1303★★Open in map →

Echizen Lacquerware

— The lacquer makers' hall in Sabae

craftOff the trail — and worth it

The visitor hall of Echizen lacquerware, a short way from the Kawada district of Sabae where the craft is centred. Exhibits on how a piece is made, craftsmen at work in the building next door, and a shop of the region's lacquerware at producer prices.

  1. FromSabae Station
  2. ~25 min by busHapi-Line train, then community bus
  3. Get off atUrushi-no-Sato Kaikan bus stop (Tsutsuji Bus Kawada Line)
  4. On foot
  5. Echizen Lacquerware
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a public hall run for visitors, not a secret. The craft itself is easy to miss, because so much of it ends up as tableware in restaurants rather than in shop windows. The hall is where the whole process is laid out for people from outside the trade.

Where it is

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What to look for

The makie ceilingAsturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0
  1. The exhibition roomsdisplays on the craft's history and on each stage of making a piece
  2. The makie ceilinga Japanese-style room whose coffered ceiling is set with makie lacquer panels
  3. The museum shopmore than a thousand kinds of Echizen lacquerware, sold at producer prices
  4. The craftsmen's workshopa separate building where certified traditional craftsmen demonstrate, a different stage each day
  5. The hands-on sessionspainting, chinkin gold-inlay and wiped-lacquer sessions, taken by advance booking

How to actually get there

  1. Sabae Station (Hapi-Line Fukui) → Urushi-no-Sato Kaikan stop (Tsutsuji Bus Kawada Line, about 25 min).
  2. Start in the exhibition rooms to follow how a piece is made.
  3. Cross to the craftsmen's workshop building to watch the day's demonstration.
  4. Finish at the museum shop, or at a hands-on session booked in advance.
Hapi-Line to Sabae, then the Tsutsuji Bus
Take the Hapi-Line Fukui to Sabae Station. From there, Sabae City's Tsutsuji community bus on the Kawada Line runs to the Urushi-no-Sato Kaikan stop. The cooperative and the Fukui City tourism site both put the ride at about 25 minutes.
Back to Sabae Station by bus
Take the Kawada Line back to Sabae Station. Read the return departures posted at the stop before you go inside, since your time at the hall is set by the bus rather than by the building.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Echizen lacquerware is made mainly in and around the Kawada district of Sabae. It began with wooden bowls and trays finished in lacquer, and later spread to plastic bases as well. Today the area supplies about 80 per cent of the lacquerware made for commercial use in Japan, from hotel trays to restaurant bowls. Urushi-no-Sato Kaikan, the craft's traditional-industry hall, stands a short way from Kawada and is run by the makers' cooperative for Sabae City. It holds displays, a shop of the region's work, and a separate workshop building where craftsmen demonstrate.

How to enjoy it

Go through the exhibition rooms first, so the demonstration in the workshop building makes sense when you reach it. The stage being shown changes from day to day, so what you see depends on the date. A hands-on session is designed to finish within about an hour, according to the cooperative, and needs to be booked in advance.

Background & history

Local tradition traces Echizen lacquerware back some 1,500 years. The story goes that a local lacquerer repaired the crown of the future Emperor Keitai and presented him with black lacquered bowls, and that the prince then encouraged the craft. Its finishes include the hana-nuri top coat, with makie and chinkin used for decoration. Echizen lacquerware was designated a national traditional craft in 1975.

Before you go

Cash
Entry to the hall is free, according to the prefectural and Fukui City tourism sites. The hands-on sessions carry their own fee. The Tsutsuji Bus charges a flat 100 yen per ride, per Sabae City.
Before you go
The hall closes on the fourth Tuesday of each month (the following day when that Tuesday is a public holiday) and over the New Year period. Sessions must be booked ahead, and the notice required is stated differently across sources, so contact the hall early.
Another way
By car, the hall is reached from the Sabae interchange on the Hokuriku Expressway and has its own car park. If the bus times do not suit, a taxi from Sabae Station is the other way in.
After you get off
The Urushi-no-Sato Kaikan stop is in front of the hall, so there is no walk to plan beyond crossing to the entrance.