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The Yomiuri Shimbun Leaders from the public and private sectors discuss the future of the Wajima-nuri lacquerware industry in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
12:38 JST, April 11, 2025
Leaders from the public and private sectors met on Thursday to discuss the future of the Wajima-nuri lacquerware industry, which suffered a hard blow from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024.
Ten participants gathered at the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, for the first meeting of a committee to make a basic plan for the establishment of a facility to foster young talent in the industry.
Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase gave the participants the key phrase “creative reconstruction” to guide their discussion, during which they exchanged visions for the possible future of the facility, such as expanding overseas sales channels for Wajima-nuri lacquerware.
The committee members included local officials such as Hase and the mayor of Wajima, as well as The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings President Toshikazu Yamaguchi and executives from The Hokkoku Shimbun; the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry; the Cultural Affairs Agency; and the Development Bank of Japan. Former Cultural Affairs Commissioner Masanori Aoyagi, now director of the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, was chosen as committee chairman.
The production area for Wajima-nuri, which was severely damaged by last year’s earthquake and torrential rains, faces an urgent need to secure new people who can keep the lacquerware industry going. The facility is envisioned as a place which for training personnel with a view to developing new products and cultivating overseas markets, in addition to simply teaching them the skills of the craft.
The committee will formulate a basic plan by the end of this fiscal year, with the aim of opening the facility in fiscal 2027.
High expectations for overseas promotion
“The prefecture will certainly take the initiative in arranging how to get [those training at the facility] to stay here,” Hase said. “But the discussion went beyond that; we talked about that alone isn’t good enough. While upholding the tradition, we also need to be producing things that sell and developing marketing channels overseas.”
The facility will accept about five trainees every year, with an upper age limit of 40, and teach them Wajima-nuri skills in a two-year course. The facility will also hold lectures by accomplished designers and experienced buyers with the aim of nurturing people capable of developing products suited to contemporary lifestyles and cultivating overseas markets.
A number of committee members, including Aoyagi, gave their opinions about the facility’s potential overseas activities.
“One possibility is to organize events in Europe, for example, and an idea also came up to hold an international expo in Japan to attract buyers and collectors from overseas. I said that’s a very good idea,” said Yamaguchi, reflecting on the meeting.
Local Wajima-nuri experts also showed interest in the suggested overseas activities.
“Of course, it’s important to train and nurture young craftspeople, but I found the discussion on overseas activities very informative from the perspective of the Wajima-nuri industry,” said Naoyuki Hinami, chairman of the Wajima Lacquerware Industry and Commerce Cooperative Association.
Wajima Mayor Shigeru Sakaguchi was of the same opinion.
“Wajima-nuri must be something young people can make a dream out of,” he said.
Juichiro Konaka, president of The Hokkoku Shimbun, considered with renewed determination his role as the head of a local newspaper.
“It was a good opportunity to contemplate the future of Wajima,” he said of the meeting. “We’ll tell the locals and younger generations about how wonderful Wajima-nuri is.”
Another committee member said, “Wajima should be the holy land of lacquerware.”
Kunihiro Komori, head of Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts, said: “I’m of the opinion that Wajima is the capital of lacquerware. We must honor and take very good care of Wajima.”
The Yomiuri Shimbun, YC donates ¥10 million
The Yomiuri Shimbun Kunihiro Komori, head of Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts, second from left, receives a ¥10 million donation certificate from The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings President Toshikazu Yamaguchi, second from right, at the institute in Wajima on Thursday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun and the Yomiuri Centers (YC), which are Yomiuri Shimbun sales locations, on Thursday donated ¥10 million to the Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts, a hub for passing on knowledge of lacquer arts in Wajima.
The institute was chosen as the recipient of the donation, part of the company’s annual social contributions, to support efforts to preserve the artistic value and skills of Wajima-nuri, which is a symbol of the area’s recovery from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, and other traditional crafts.
