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HISTORY Minatoya Murajiro perfected the technique The history of Mikawa Buddhist Altar goes as far back as the Muromachi period. It was the first of altar manufacturing in Ishikawa Prefecture. Miyatoya Murajiro of mid-19th century, had excellent skills in lacquering and his iromono-tsuikoku technique brought fame to Mikawa Buddhist Altar. Many of Minatoya's altars are found in the prefecture and in Mikawa in particular. Mikawa was a big port town and was temporarily the capital of Ishikawa prefecture soon after the Meiji Restoration. Mikawa was a call port for kitamae ships, and Mikawa altars were marketed on water ways as far as Hokkaido aboard kitamae ships. Before World War Two, altar craftsmen counted over 200 and Mikawa was known as a manufacturing town of altars. It became so famous that the town was sang in a local folk song. CHARACTERISTIC Tsuikoku technique is characteristic The characteristic of Mikawa Buddhist Altar is its iromono-tsuikoku technique. It is the technique to take pattern from wood molds. In iromono-tsuikoku, glue is mixed with lacquer by hands until the mixture is hardened. The mixture is rolled flat by a log roller to 1 millimeter thickness. The mixture is then spread over wood molds of arabesque, flowers and birds or sheath patterns, then pressed against the molds by foot. The mixture is welded onto the raw wood panels of Buddhist-image stand and raigo-pillars of the altar. Gold leaf is applied to complete. Various techniques such as bellows crafts, momigara-mushikui-nuri, inlay work of blue shells, golden pattern of hammered metal works are added as decoration on top of lacquered wood. Akita hiba, ginkgo trees are chosen as wood materials for durability. |
