Back to urushi.... My guess is that urushi must have initially been used to adhere different materials or to protect wood from any damage. Creativity of human being must have been nurtured to seek for beauty as well as function. Over the long history of urushi, many different techniques have evolved.
The video below features one of such techniques: Fuki-urushi (拭漆). Here is an excerpt from the video narration.
"In this technique the wood itself is impregnated with the lacquer. The natural gleam highlights the beauty of the grain of the wood. Akira Murayama is one of the leading wood craftsmen. And he is recognized as a living national treasure. Most of his work is called Fuki-urushi.
This is how the Fuki-urushi technique is implemented. First a coating of lacquer is applied to a piece of wood using a brush. The urushi is wiped thoroughly with a cloth to ensure that it has been applied evenly. Allowing the wood to soak up the lacquer helps to make the pattern of grain stand out more clearly. The surface is then carefully polished with sand paper. This entire procedure is then repeated 5 or 6more times.
The coat of urushi is applied, and then polished, and sandpapered -- Repeating these steps ensures that the simple natural beauty of wood is seen at its best. The entire process can take months to produce a single piece. [Murayama] tries to listen to the voice of the wood, as he works it."
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