Asian Lacquer Arts: The Countries of Urushi
Wajima Museum of Urushi ArtWajima, Japan
The closing date is not yet set. The museum has confirmed opening through 30 September while recovery work continues in Wajima.
Official exhibition pageA field guide to urushi
See urushi for yourself.
A lacquer surface changes as you move past it. Gold sinks and flashes, black turns warm, and a plain bowl shows the hand that polished it. Screens cannot do that part.
This is a practical list of places where the real objects, tools, and people can be found. It is checked against official venue information, not copied from travel listings.
01
Displays rotate. Lacquer is light-sensitive. A museum with a major collection may have little of it out on a particular day.
02
Production towns reward planning. Workshops are workplaces, not open studios. Contact them before turning up.
03
Look before you buy. Ask whether a piece uses natural urushi, cashew lacquer, or synthetic coating. Good shops will tell you.
Checked 23 August 2026
On now and next
Six dated exhibitions worth planning around. Always recheck the venue before travelling.
Sacred Lacquers: Vessels of Faith
Kyoto National MuseumKyoto, Japan
Vermillion ritual vessels, maki-e furnishings, and Buddhist implements in the museum's lacquerware gallery.
Official exhibition pageUrushi Now: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer
V&A South KensingtonLondon, United Kingdom
A free display of 21st-century work in the Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art, including sculpture, vessels, and maki-e.
Official exhibition pageAdorned in Gold
National Museum of Asian ArtWashington, DC, United States
Japanese maki-e from the Jacqueline Avant collection, with boxes, combs, hairpins, and a lacquered palanquin.
Official exhibition pageLacquerware with Carvings
Nezu MuseumTokyo, Japan
A focused look at carved techniques across East Asia, including choshitsu, Kamakurabori, sokin, tenshitsu, and kinma.
Official exhibition pagePainting Time: Modernity Reflected in Kyoto Lacquerware
Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of ArtKyoto, Japan
A history of modern Kyoto lacquer from the Meiji period through the postwar years.
Official exhibition pageThe directory
Places worth the trip
Museums for close looking, production towns for process, and shops where handling the object is part of understanding it.
17 places
Wajima, IshikawaJapan
MuseumWorkshopShop
Wajima Museum of Urushi Art
A museum devoted entirely to lacquer art
Historic Wajima-nuri, contemporary lacquer from across Asia, a large lacquered globe, hands-on plans, and a museum shop in the city most closely tied to urushi.
Plan aroundWajima is still rebuilding after the 2024 earthquake. The museum currently confirms opening only through 30 September 2026, so check before making the journey.
Kanazawa, IshikawaJapan
Museum
National Crafts Museum
Modern masters and Matsuda Gonroku's studio
Japan's national museum for craft holds major lacquer works. The reassembled maki-e studio of Living National Treasure Matsuda Gonroku is the detail worth planning around.
Plan aroundThere is no fixed permanent collection display. Check the current exhibition and installation closures before visiting.
Sabae, FukuiJapan
MuseumWorkshopShop
Urushi no Sato Kaikan
Seeing the whole making sequence
A production-centre visit with process displays, historical material, a working craft studio, more than 1,000 shop items, and workshops in decoration or fuki-urushi.
Plan aroundArtisan demonstrations normally run 10:00 to 16:00 with a lunch break. Workshops need two or more people and advance booking.
Shiojiri, NaganoJapan
DistrictMuseumWorkshopShop
Kiso-Hirasawa lacquerware district
A walk through a living lacquer town
Traditional townhouses, lacquer shops, working nuri-gura, the Kiso Lacquerware Museum, and hands-on sessions at the Kiso Lifestyle Craft Center sit within one compact district.
Plan aroundThe museum is a seven-minute walk from Kiso-Hirasawa station. Contact individual shops before asking to enter a workshop.
Joboji, IwateJapan
WorkshopShop
Tekiseisha
Understanding where Japanese urushi comes from
A showroom and workshop in Japan's most important urushi-producing area. The focus is plain, useful Joboji ware made with locally tapped lacquer rather than ornamental display pieces.
Plan aroundPair it with the Joboji History and Folk Museum to connect the finished bowls to the trees, tapping, and local working life.
KyotoJapan
MuseumWorkshopShop
Kyoto Museum of Crafts and Design
Placing Kyo-shikki among Kyoto's other crafts
The permanent survey covers all 74 official Kyoto craft categories, including lacquerware. A changing demonstration schedule brings local makers into the gallery.
Plan aroundThis is a broad craft museum rather than a lacquer museum. Check the daily demonstration calendar if seeing tools in motion matters to you.
KyotoJapan
Museum
Kyoto National Museum
Historic lacquer and Buddhist objects
The collection galleries rotate fragile lacquerware through a dedicated room. When the rotation is good, this is where to see museum-grade maki-e, ritual vessels, and medieval objects.
Plan aroundLacquer is not always on view. Read the collection exhibition schedule by genre before buying a ticket.
KyotoJapan
Shop
Zohiko Kyoto Teramachi
Handling finished Kyo-shikki before buying
A lacquerware house founded in 1661, with daily tableware, tea utensils, boxes, and formal maki-e in a quiet shop north of Kyoto City Hall.
Plan aroundOpen 10:00 to 18:00 and normally closed Tuesday. The second floor sometimes holds small archive displays, so check the news page.
TokyoJapan
Museum
Tokyo National Museum
A concise history of Japanese lacquer
Room 12 of the Japanese Gallery regularly gathers writing boxes, trays, furniture, and personal objects to explain lacquer, raden, and maki-e across periods.
Plan aroundThe objects rotate often for conservation. Check the room-by-room exhibition list rather than assuming lacquer will be on view.
TokyoJapan
Shop
Traditional Crafts Aoyama Square
Comparing regional lacquerware in one shop
A national gallery and shop for officially designated crafts. It is one of the easiest places to compare Echizen, Kiso, Aizu, Kagawa, Kyo, and other lacquer traditions without leaving Tokyo.
Plan aroundThe stock and weekly craft events change. Look at the event calendar if you want a demonstration or a specific production area.
LondonUnited Kingdom
Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
Japanese lacquer in a design museum
The Toshiba Gallery is a strong permanent introduction to Japanese art and craft. The museum is also mounting Urushi Now, a focused contemporary display through April 2027.
Plan aroundGeneral admission and the current urushi display are free. Go directly to Room 45 if lacquer is your reason for visiting.
LondonUnited Kingdom
Museum
British Museum
Japanese lacquer in historical context
The Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries cover Japanese history through objects, including lacquerware by premodern and contemporary masters.
Plan aroundHead to Rooms 92 to 94. Individual light-sensitive objects rotate, so the exact lacquer selection changes.
ParisFrance
Museum
Musée Guimet
Asian lacquer traditions side by side
The Japan galleries place lacquered sculpture, armour, furniture, and decorative objects beside the wider arts of East Asia. Nearby Maison Guimet has a separate gallery of large Chinese lacquer furniture.
Plan aroundThe Japan displays rotate. Maison Guimet is visit-by-reservation and reopens for guided visits on 24 September 2026.
ParisFrance
Shop
Mingei Gallery
Contemporary urushi you can ask about closely
A commercial gallery specialising in Japanese decorative arts. Its programme regularly includes contemporary lacquer artists and gives you a closer encounter than most museum cases allow.
Plan aroundExhibitions change and works may sit off site between shows. Check the programme or contact the gallery before visiting for lacquer.
AmsterdamNetherlands
Museum
Rijksmuseum Asian Pavilion
Japanese objects within a compact Asian collection
The separate pavilion rotates Asian art every six months. Japanese decorative arts and export lacquer appear within changing themes rather than in a permanent lacquer room.
Plan aroundUse the current Asian Pavilion page to see whether lacquer is included in the latest rotation.
New YorkUnited States
Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the strongest lacquer collections outside Japan
The Asian Art department holds major Japanese lacquer, including the Florence and Herbert Irving gift. Medieval Negoro, Edo-period maki-e, and Nanban export work are particular strengths.
Plan aroundOnly a fraction of the collection is displayed at once. Search the online collection for items marked on view before your visit.
Washington, DCUnited States
Museum
National Museum of Asian Art
Maki-e and Japanese art with free admission
The Smithsonian museum holds a deep Japanese collection and opens Adorned in Gold in November 2026, a long-running exhibition centred on maki-e.
Plan aroundThe museum is free. Before the exhibition opens, use the current display pages or an Arts of Japan tour to confirm what is in the galleries.
How this list works
A useful list, not an exhaustive one.
A place is included when its official information gives a concrete reason to expect lacquer: a dedicated collection, a named gallery, an active workshop, or a shop specialising in the craft. Large museums with lacquer in storage do not get presented as guaranteed sightings.
Exhibition dates and recovery notices go stale first. The date above is the last manual check, and every listing links to the venue that can confirm the day you plan to go.