Japanese artisans have used lacquer since the Jomon period, which spans approximately 15,000 to 2,300 years ago. At first, people relied on it mainly as an antiseptic or adhesive. Over time, however, ...

Since 2009, a partnership between Chopard and Yamada Heiando has combined haute horlogerie and the art of Japanese lacquer, derived from the sap of the urushi tree. The dials of the very first L.U.C ...

Kintsugi craftsman Nobuyasu Suginaka, left, teaches Kira Smith how to apply urushi lacquer at the Soweido studio in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Sept. 24, 2025. (Mainichi/Takahiro Hasegawa) NAGAHAMA, ...

Almost everyone recognises Grand Seiko as the epitome of Japanese watchmaking excellence — a name that holds its own among the most storied Swiss and German maisons. But tucked within the same revered ...

Stolen from the west metro home were eight pricey puppies, a sports car, jewelry and other valuables. A puppy thief turned murderer learned his fate from a Twin Cities judge for both crimes. Jahon ...

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. “The sap harvested for lacquer is like the blood of a tree. It is a treasure from nature,” says ...

When Suzanne Ross, an English-born artisan based on Japan’s Noto Peninsula, began her 40-year career making traditional Japanese lacquerware, she was told repeatedly that only men could make ...

At midnight the night before I left for Japan to learn kintsugi, the ancient art of repairing broken pottery, my parents’ kitchen cabinet came crashing to the ground. My dog and I slept through the ...