Yamada-Shunkei

Yamada Shunkei-ten was established in 1971 in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, and is registered today as a limited company led by Yamada Hidetoshi. The shop makes Hida Shunkei, a regional lacquerware whose origin story, recorded by the city of Takayama, dates to the Keicho era roughly four centuries ago, when craftsman Takahashi Kishichiemon fashioned a dish from wood prized for its grain and had it finished by an official lacquerer in a clear lacquer that let the wood show through, a technique subsequently named Shunkei-nuri and presented to the shogunate.

Hida Shunkei received formal recognition as a Japanese traditional craft from the national government in 1975, four years after Yamada Shunkei-ten's own founding and following the 1961 establishment of a regional producers' cooperative. Genuine pieces from the shop carry a sticker certifying hand-applied ('tenuri') work by traditionally trained craftspeople, produced under controlled temperature and humidity during curing.

The shop's range runs from traditional forms, tiered boxes, bento boxes, trays and confection dishes, to contemporary items such as tumblers, wine glasses and accessories, all finished in the same clear amber lacquer that is Hida Shunkei's defining feature, aimed explicitly at making the craft usable in everyday, present-day life rather than purely ceremonial.