Traditional Lacquerware Globe Miraculously Undamaged by Noto Peninsula Quake to be Exhibited at Osaka-Kansai Expo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:58 JST, January 27, 2025

A large Wajima-nuri lacquerware globe, which escaped being damaged in the Noto Peninsula Earthquake last year, will be exhibited at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Jan. 19.

Wajima-nuri lacquerware is a famous traditional craft from Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, one of the cities devastated by the quake.

The globe will be displayed at a pavilion originally planned for use by Iran, which has pulled out from the Expo.

According to the Expo operator Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the globe measures about 1 meter in diameter. It was completed by a group of Wajima-nuri lacquerware craftspeople in 2022 after five years. When the quake occurred on Jan 1, 2024, it was being exhibited at the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art in the city where it was left undamaged.

The globe was made with the message of overcoming conflicts and divisions, as well as having consideration for other people, which led the association to decide that it’s in accordance with the principal philosophy of world expositions.

The association is considering exhibiting the globe during the entire duration of the Expo, in order to share a Japanese traditional craft with the world and encourage the quake-affected areas.