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A Treasured Creation: The Bond with Urushi, Japanese Lacquer

15 Minutes · Season 4 · Episode 16
Japan's world-famous lacquerware is prized for its versatility, beauty and shine, which is due to the varnish made from the sap of Urushi trees. This sap is harvested by hand in small amounts through a meticulous process of scraping and cutting. Tobita Yuzo (86) carries on a lifelong pledge of brotherhood to the Urushi trees as one of the last few remaining harvesters. To make sure this legacy continues, Tobita plants thousands of new trees in the hopes of making a forest full of Urushi.

Episode Details

Air date, runtime, timezone, and episode position.

Season
4
Episode
16
Air Date
15/Dec/2021
Air Time
Runtime
15 min

Overview

Episode summary.

Japan's world-famous lacquerware is prized for its versatility, beauty and shine, which is due to the varnish made from the sap of Urushi trees. This sap is harvested by hand in small amounts through a meticulous process of scraping and cutting. Tobita Yuzo (86) carries on a lifelong pledge of brotherhood to the Urushi trees as one of the last few remaining harvesters. To make sure this legacy continues, Tobita plants thousands of new trees in the hopes of making a forest full of Urushi.

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