Bilingual Glossary
Every Japanese technical term used in this guide, in one place, with the chapter where it's explained in context.
| Term | Meaning | See |
|---|---|---|
| Urushi (漆) | Japanese lacquer; the sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum, refined | Ch.1 |
| Urushiol | The allergenic phenolic compound in raw urushi | Ch.2 |
| Laccase | The enzyme that catalyzes urushi's oxidative cure | Ch.1 |
| Ki-urushi | Raw, minimally filtered lacquer sap | Ch.3 |
| Seshime | Workhorse raw-lacquer grade for base coats/putties | Ch.3 |
| Kijōmi | Refined grade for wiping/finishing coats | Ch.3 |
| Naka-nuri urushi | Middle-coat grade, thickened by stirring | Ch.16 |
| Kijiro | Clear refined lacquer that shows the wood grain | Ch.3 |
| Sugurome / Roiro clear | No-oil refined lacquer, backbone of roiro work | Ch.3 |
| Shu-ai | Oil-added lacquer for nuri-tate/hana-nuri finishing | Ch.17 |
| Nashiji | Gamboge-tinted clear lacquer; also the sprinkled-gold-under-clear effect | Ch.28 |
| Hakushita | Lacquer formulated for foil/leaf adhesion | Ch.3 |
| Kuro-urushi | Black lacquer (iron-compound reacted) | Ch.3 |
| Kiji / Kiji-gatame | The raw wood object / the wood-stabilizing prep stage | Ch.12 |
| Kokuso | Coarse structural filler paste (flour + raw urushi + wood powder + rock powder) | Ch.13 |
| Sabi(-urushi) | Fine leveling/repair paste (polishing powder + water + raw urushi) | Ch.13 |
| Nuno-kise | Cloth reinforcement of joints/edges | Ch.14 |
| Kisemono-urushi | Raw urushi + rice glue adhesive used to bed reinforcement cloth | Ch.14 |
| Somi-urushi | Raw urushi + rice glue + carbonized zelkova powder, used over nunokise | Ch.14 |
| Shitaji / Ji-nuri | Ground layer(s) / the three-pass ground-building sequence | Ch.15 |
| Ippen-, Nihen-, Sanpen-jizuke | First, second, third ground-layer passes | Ch.15 |
| Jinoko | Porous diatomaceous earth powder used in Wajima ground layers | Ch.15 |
| Tonoko | Fine clay/earthenware powder used in polishing pastes | Ch.7 |
| Nikawa | Animal-glue-based ground material | Ch.15 |
| Uwa-nuri | Top coating | Ch.17 |
| Nuri-tate / Hana-nuri | Glossy-off-the-brush top coat style, no polish pass | Ch.17 |
| Uwazuri | Fine surface-refinement stage, more than simple "polishing" | Ch.17 |
| Migakiko / Dozuriko | Traditional polishing powders | Ch.17, Ch.20 |
| Fuki-urushi (suri-urushi) | Wipe-on-wipe-off application technique | Ch.18 |
| Tamenuri | Translucent layered finish over a pigmented ground | Ch.19 |
| Nanako-nuri | "Fish-roe" patterned Tsugaru regional technique | Ch.19 |
| Roiro(-nuri) / Roiro-migaki | Polished mirror-black finish / the finish plus its polishing process | Ch.20 |
| Dozuri | Charcoal-and-oil-powder polishing stage of roiro | Ch.20 |
| Suriurushi | Very thin coat of premium raw lacquer wiped on during roiro/finishing | Ch.20 |
| Tsuya-age | "Bringing up the shine" — final hand-polishing stage | Ch.20 |
| Muro / Furo | Humidity-controlled curing cabinet | Ch.4 |
| Shime-buro / Kara-buro | Wet curing stage (70–85% RH) / dry stabilizing stage (50–60% RH) | Ch.4 |
| Hera | Spatula | Ch.6 |
| Hake | Traditional human-hair lacquer brush | Ch.5 |
| Yoshino-gami | Fine straining paper for filtering urushi | Ch.8 |
| Uma / Urushi-koshiki | Straining rig for filtering urushi under pressure | Ch.8 |
| Funzutsu | Bamboo/aluminum tube for sprinkling metal powder | Ch.9, Ch.23 |
| Maki-e | "Sprinkled picture" — gold/silver powder decoration | Ch.23 |
| Okime-egaki / Okime-tori | Design tracing / design transfer stages of maki-e | Ch.23 |
| Kindei | Gold powder (general term); see marufun, hiramefun, keshifun, hirameji, hyomon | Ch.23 |
| Hira maki-e | Flat sprinkled-gold maki-e | Ch.23 |
| Togidashi maki-e | Buried-and-ground-back maki-e | Ch.24 |
| Aratogi | First charcoal-burnishing pass revealing buried togidashi design | Ch.24 |
| Taka maki-e | Raised-relief maki-e | Ch.25 |
| Chinkin | Engraved, gold-filled line decoration | Ch.26 |
| Raden | Mother-of-pearl/shell inlay | Ch.27 |
| Rankaku | Eggshell inlay | Ch.27 |
| Kawari-nuri | Family of variant/textured surface effects | Ch.28 |
| Kintsugi | Ceramic repair using urushi/kokuso/sabi/maki-e vocabulary | Ch.29 |
Sources
Compiled from every chapter's cited sources above; see Chapter 38 for the full index.