The following year, in 2016, our workshop took on the challenge of applying urushi to a steering wheel, and the piece drew considerable attention when it was exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show.

A memory from 2015: applying urushi lacquer to the first-generation Toyota Aqua. In collaboration with Toyota Motor Corporation / TRD, we finished the spoiler in black urushi lacquer. It was not exactly practical for everyday use 😅 But that deep shikkoku black looked incredibly cool.

Squirrel Maki-e Fountain Pen This pen is inspired by an early Showa Namiki maki-e design from the 1930s, when Japanese urushi craftsmanship began to fascinate collectors around the world. On the deep black urushi surface, a small squirrel appears among leaves, quietly emerging from the darkness.

I have revised our crowdfunding page. This campaign originally began as a way to support Wajima’s urushi artisans after the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. More than two years have now passed, and the focus has shifted from emergency support to a longer, quieter challenge: gogetfunding.com/wajima/

Urushi saplings riding in the passenger seat. They can be risky for people sensitive to urushi rash, but fortunately I seem to be fine with them😊

A Tohoku Shinkansen tunnel entrance surrounded by rice fields and green hills. In Iwate, the rice planting season has begun.

I have written a small booklet titled The Acceptance of Wounds, sharing my personal reflections on "HappyEnd", the program performed by Yuzuru Hanyu with the music of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra. Thanks to the warm response it has received, I have now had it reprinted. brass.base.shop #HanyuYuzuru

宇宙から林野火災をどう見るか　光学衛星で読み解く大槌町火災 - Impress Watch www.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/topic/2... この記事が目新しいのは、山林火災を単なる焼損面積の問題ではなく、衛星データ、植生の反射特性、GIS、交通インフラ、生活圏への影響を重ね合わせて読む対象として示している点。 しかも衛星解析の有効性だけでなく、誤検出や過小評価の限界まで示している。 災害対応は現地の経験だけでなく、空間データを読解する力も必要な時代に入っていると感じます。

羽生結弦さんが東北ユースオーケストラの演奏とともに演じたHappyEndという演目について私なりの感想をしたためた「傷の受容」という冊子が好評をいただき、このたび増刷いたしました。 brass.base.shop #羽生結弦 #HanyuYuzuru

カシオの漆塗り高級電卓はなぜ売れたのか―「加飾」ではなく「道具の再発見」として｜松沢漆工房　松沢卓生 @joboji note.com/japanjoboji/...

I visited Nanakita Park in Izumi, Sendai. Under the clear blue sky, the Yuzu-zakura cherry tree and the blue nemophila field were beautifully in bloom. Yuzu-zakura was donated in 2018 to commemorate figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu’s second consecutive Olympic gold medal. #YuzuruHanyu #羽生結弦

I visited Hibarigahara Field in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, the venue of a large-scale mounted samurai festival.

Anyone got a spare like 10k they want to give me to make this mine? I’ll even let you hold the pen on occasion!

Montegrappa - Stanley Kubrick: The Shining www.montegrappa.com/en/collectio... Personally, I would have made them twin fountain pens😆 #fountainpen

This Fountain Pen Pelikan Souverän® M800 is specially decorated and finished by our workshop using traditional Japanese raden art techniques.

At Lake Kinshu in Nishiwaga, Iwate Prefecture, a Sanriku Railway train car that once suffered damage in the Great East Japan Earthquake passes through the breathtaking scenery of the submerged forest. What a moving sight. www.iwate-np.co.jp/article/2026...

和賀町・錦秋湖、JR北上線を初めて走行 www.iwate-np.co.jp/article/2026...

After the Noto Peninsula earthquake, we began this crowdfunding project to support the future of urushi culture. In Iwate, we care for young urushi trees that need years of protection.Your contribution helps us protect saplings, maintain the fields, and nurture this living tradition🌿 t.co/FH7uRzQ0Qb

Today, our NPO members installed fencing to help protect the urushi saplings from deer browsing, and we also spread fertilizer. An electric fence would be ideal, but this is certainly better than having no protection at all. 🦌

After the Noto Peninsula earthquake, we began this crowdfunding project to support the future of urushi culture. In Iwate, we care for young urushi trees that need years of protection.Your contribution helps us protect saplings, maintain the fields, and nurture this living tradition🌿 t.co/FH7uRzQ0Qb

Today, our NPO members installed fencing to help protect the urushi saplings from deer browsing, and we also spread fertilizer. An electric fence would be ideal, but this is certainly better than having no protection at all. 🦌

Even after we plant urushi saplings, deer eat the new shoots, preventing the trees from growing properly. We have asked the local government for subsidies to help cover the cost of protective fencing, but our requests have repeatedly been turned down.

Today I’m carrying fertilizer to the urushi field. Hard physical work. Urushi trees are often planted in the mountains, but urushi saplings are actually well suited to fields closer to villages and human settlements. In Japan, such places are called urushi fields.

I have revised our crowdfunding page. This campaign originally began as a way to support Wajima’s urushi artisans after the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. More than two years have now passed, and the focus has shifted from emergency support to a longer, quieter challenge: gogetfunding.com/wajima/

We’ve updated the Matsuzawa Urushi Workshop online store on STORES! Our popular awase accessory series now includes a new adjustable ring. We’ve also added “shizuku,” a new lineup that gives you even more choices 💍 Please take a look! matsuzawaurushi.stores.jp

谷崎潤一郎を「食」から読む視点は『陰翳礼讃』における漆器の美とも深くつながっているように思います。 谷崎にとって食は、単に味覚の問題ではなく、器、灯り、肌理、匂い、沈黙まで含めた総合的な感覚の世界だったのではないでしょうか。『陰翳礼讃』で語られる漆器の美も、明るい光の下で輝く美ではありません。薄暗がりの中で黒漆の奥から柔らかく光がにじむ。その陰の中でこそ料理の色や湯気や湿り気が静かに立ち上がります。 つまり谷崎の「食魔」としての欲望は、ただ貪ることではなく、食べ物を取り巻く空間全体を味わい尽くす欲望だったのだと思います。

I uploaded a new YouTube Short featuring the Phoenix Maki-e Fountain Pen by Hoko-an. A bespoke Japanese urushi fountain pen, made individually in Japan with maki-e and hand-painted decoration. #fountainpen #makie #urushi #penaddict #pencollector youtube.com/shorts/mqniG...

STORESの松沢漆工房オンラインショップを更新しました！ 既にご案内していますが、これまでたくさんの方にご愛顧いただいているawaseアクセサリーに、新作のringが登場しています。自在にサイズを調節できます！ 新ラインナップ"shizuku"も追加され、選択の幅がぐっと広がりました💍 大船渡の山林火災の支援から生まれた美しいアクセサリー。 ぜひチェックしてみてください。 matsuzawaurushi.stores.jp

We’ve updated the Matsuzawa Urushi Workshop online store on STORES! Our popular awase accessory series now includes a new adjustable ring. We’ve also added “shizuku,” a new lineup that gives you even more choices 💍 Please take a look! matsuzawaurushi.stores.jp

Tracing the Footsteps of Hanyū Yuzuru in a Sendai Pilgrimage www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-...

Edo-Tokyo Museum Reopens with “Great Edo” Exhibition Showcasing Its Collection Highlights www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-...

Phoenix Maki-e Fountain Pen by Hoko-an I have opened a bespoke order request form for this Phoenix fountain pen. It is made individually in Japan using urushi lacquer, maki-e, and hand-painted decoration. Order request form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #urushi #makie #fountainpen

I uploaded a new YouTube Short featuring the Phoenix Maki-e Fountain Pen by Hoko-an. A bespoke Japanese urushi fountain pen, made individually in Japan with maki-e and hand-painted decoration. #fountainpen #makie #urushi #penaddict #pencollector youtube.com/shorts/mqniG...

【参加者募集中】 ワークショップ「生成・分解・循環」 2026年5月17日（日）14時〜16時 国営みちのく杜の湖畔公園共生園(宮城県柴田郡川崎町) 事前申込制（15名限定）・参加無料 ・手すき和紙体験 ・ミニレクチャー「環境にやさしい材料とは？　和紙と生分解」 ・ミニレクチャー「分解とアート　ヤギのうんちを使って……」 ・和紙で遊ぼう 主催：JINSEIプロジェクト（代表：小松原織香 東北大学文学研究科准教授） お申し込みはこちらから→ forms.gle/GrrHMgrJBUjR...

Phoenix Maki-e Fountain Pen by Hoko-an I have opened a bespoke order request form for this Phoenix fountain pen. It is made individually in Japan using urushi lacquer, maki-e, and hand-painted decoration. Order request form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #urushi #makie #fountainpen

Cherry Blossom Maki-e Fountain Pen This fountain pen is inspired by an early Showa-period Namiki maki-e design from the 1930s, when Japanese urushi craftsmanship began to fascinate collectors around the world. Created by Matsuzawa Urushi Kobo / Hoko-an.

Cherry Blossom Maki-e Fountain Pen This fountain pen is inspired by an early Showa-period Namiki maki-e design from the 1930s, when Japanese urushi craftsmanship began to fascinate collectors around the world. Created by Matsuzawa Urushi Kobo / Hoko-an.

A new project has begun: expressing the world of Melville’s Moby-Dick, one of my favorite works, through urushi lacquer. The design will be based on Rockwell Kent’s magnificent illustrations.

In the villa's sitting room is a low table made from a single piece of Chinese quince. The polished surface perfectly captures the reflection of the lush green garden outside, bringing the cool shade of the trees into the room. #Japan #KyūteiOmuro #旧邸御室 #Kyoto #京都 #仁和寺

🌞🌿GREEN REFLECTIONS🪞☺️ looking into the newly polished mirror the servant faints 磨ぎたての鏡びっくり下女気絶 -anon For a very brief moment each year Kyūtei Omuro (旧邸御室), an old villa close to Ninna-ji, is open to the public. It is famed for a table!🤔🪞🌿 #Kyoto #京都

This treble clef badge is finished with urushi, adorned with raden mother-of-pearl, and set with amber. Iwate is almost like a dream for craft: a land of urushi trees, abalone from the sea, and ancient amber from the earth.

Inspired by Namiki maki-e fountain pens of the 1930s, this piece depicts a golden pheasant on deep black urushi. Gold, green, and subtle blue emerge like a quiet auspicious landscape in the hand.

It seems that the exact reason why the Japanese term mannenhitsu — literally “ten-thousand-year pen” — came to be used for the fountain pen is not entirely clear. For most Japanese people, however, the word does not literally suggest a writing instrument that lasts for ten thousand years.

English tends to name the mechanism: fountain pen, ballpoint pen, mechanical pencil. Japanese often preserves the first impression: a pen that seems to last forever, a “ball pen,” a “sharp pencil.” The same tools reveal different ways of seeing technology.

Inspired by Namiki maki-e fountain pens of the 1930s, this piece depicts a golden pheasant on deep black urushi. Gold, green, and subtle blue emerge like a quiet auspicious landscape in the hand.

This pen is based on a ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting Horibe Yahei, one of the Forty-seven Ronin. Horibe Yahei was the oldest of the loyal retainers who took part in the famous Akō vendetta, and Kuniyoshi portrayed him with a powerful sense of dignity, resolve and quiet intensity.

Anyone interested in starting a business with me in Tokyo, selling urushi art fountain pens to inbound tourists?😅. I would rather focus on making them😄

These fountain pens with such strongly traditional Japanese imagery are made almost entirely for overseas customers. Strangely enough, I have never sold even one of them in Japan. Very few shops carry pens like this, and even when they do, they usually have only a handful on display.

This pen is based on a ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting Horibe Yahei, one of the Forty-seven Ronin. Horibe Yahei was the oldest of the loyal retainers who took part in the famous Akō vendetta, and Kuniyoshi portrayed him with a powerful sense of dignity, resolve and quiet intensity.

We have finished planting the urushi saplings. This was part of the work of the NPO I represent. Fortunately, we did not encounter any bears or deer.