Ishikawa Prefecture to Open Traditional Wajima-nuri Lacquerware Training Institute; Hopes to Attract Young People in Japan, Foreign Countries

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:10 JST, December 29, 2024

The Ishikawa prefectural government intends to train young people to carry on the tradition of the Wajima-nuri lacquerware industry and help the recovery of an industry that has been severely affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

The training institute, which will help revitalize the industry, is to be established in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture. The prefectural government is also considering using the institute as a base to draw in people from Japan and overseas and to expand lacquerware into overseas markets.

A basic concept for the project will be created next year with the aim of opening the institute in fiscal 2027.

For the project, The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Hokkoku Shimbun are cooperating with the prefectural government to discuss setting up a working team along with the Wajima municipal government, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the Development Bank of Japan and others. The Yomiuri Shimbun has been working to promote traditional crafts while the Kanazawa-based newspaper leads a post-earthquake reconstruction task force comprising of members in government, businesses and academia in the prefecture.

In the city of Wajima, which is home to Wajima-nuri lacquerware, many workshops burned down or collapsed due to the Jan. 1 earthquake. According to the Wajima Lacquerware Industry and Commerce Cooperative Association, nearly 80% of about 400 workshops have returned to the city. However, as the population ages, there are concerns that young people are moving away from the traditional craft due to uncertainties for the future.

The envisaged institute will train young people from within and outside Japan to carry on the tradition of the lacquerware industry and equip them with craftsman’s skills and techniques. The institute will also accept students graduating from the Ishikawa Prefectural Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts, a center for the succession of the lacquer arts. With an eye on overseas markets, the institute will hold lectures on areas including product development and marketing, aiming to pave the way for Wajima-nuri lacquerware to expand into foreign countries.

The institute will open in an area where facilities related to the industry are concentrated, such as the Wajima Institute of Lacquer Arts, the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art and the lacquer refining plant of the cooperative association. It will also serve to help tourism by exhibiting works created by the students, allowing visitors to see production sites and holding events to experience the traditional craftwork and other activities.

The area will be used as a “sanctuary of lacquer arts” to help attract people from within and outside the country to help reconstruct Wajima. In order to offer more creative opportunities for students, the prefectural government is considering outsourcing to the institute the repair work of lacquer mikoshi portable shrines used in the local kiriko lantern float festivals and other festivals across the nation.

The prefectural government is considering providing accommodation for students at the institute so that they can acquire the necessary skills and techniques in Wajima without anxiety and granting financial incentives for companies to hire graduates of the institute for three years in order to secure jobs for students who completed the training program.

In fiscal 2025, the prefecture will set up a committee tasked with discussing the basic concept for the project and deciding the details. Then, construction of the training institute, accommodation and other relevant facilities will start, with the aim of opening the institute in fiscal 2027.