Lacquerware (
漆器,
shikki) is a
Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as
lacquer has been used in
urushi-e,
prints, and on a wide variety of objects from
Buddha statues to
bento boxes for food.
The characteristic of Japanese lacquerware is the diversity of lacquerware using a decoration technique called
maki-e (
蒔絵) in which metal powder is sprinkled to attach to lacquer. The invention of various
maki-e techniques in
Japanese history expanded artistic expression, and various tools and works of art such as
inro are highly decorative.
A number of terms are used in
Japanese to refer to
lacquerware.
Shikki (漆器) means "lacquer ware" in the most literal sense, while
nurimono (塗物) means "coated things", and
urushi-nuri (漆塗) means "lacquer coating."
The terms related to lacquer or lacquerware such as "
Japanning", "
Urushiol" and "
maque" which means lacquer in Mexican Spanish, are derived from Japanese lacquerware.
