2026 Japan Urushi Forestry & Kintsugi Workshop

mikster
Mar 2
3 min read

Updated: Mar 4

Before there is kintsugi, there is the urushi forest.

Enrollment now opens for the 2026 Japan Urushi Forestry & Kintsugi Workshop, taking place:

October 22-30, 2026

Location: Daigo, Ibaraki, Japan

Limit to 6 participants

This is not simply a workshop you attend.

It is a place you enter — physically, intellectually, and emotionally.

Most people encounter kintsugi at the repair table.

We do not offer tea ceremony nor zen meditation. We begin in the urushi lacquer forest.

Japanese lacquer forest urushi experience

Daigo is one of Japan’s remaining historic urushi-producing regions. Here, lacquer is not an abstract material in a tube: it is tapped slowly from living trees, year by year, by foresters who have committed their lives to sustaining it.

Japan urushi tapping master — Meet Urushi Forest Master, Mr. Nidaira. Chair of Daigo Urushi Preservation Association.

You will walk into the urushi forest. You will see how trees are scored. You will talk to foresters, each attending hundreds of urushi trees individually.

You will understand why raw lacquer is precious, why it cannot be industrialized easily, and why authentic kintsugi carries weight far beyond aesthetics and wabi-sabi zen philosophy.

This shift, from object to origin, changes everything.

The Depth of Practice

Over multiple days, we review and trial an assortment of traditional lacquer craft tools. We work carefully with natural urushi, not epoxy substitutes.

This is a structured and serious introduction to traditional methods, including:

Foundation repair and structural reinforcement
Working with urushi layers and curing
Surface refinement and finishing
Understanding tools and material behavior over time

Japan traditional kintsugi workshop, using authentic traditional tools and supplies, tonoko, urushi, gold and silver powder.

But more importantly, you begin to feel the rhythm of the material.

Urushi teaches patience in a way no modern adhesive does. The process cannot be rushed.

Beyond Lacquer: A Living Craft Ecosystem

Japan urushi tapper, urushi lacquer forest artisan — Young forester Mr. Yanagi sharing his experience in urushi cultivation, his daily work in managing the forest.

You will meet people who guard these practices quietly. You will share meals in places that are not designed for tourism. You will see firsthand how small communities navigate aging populations, shrinking industries, and rising global demand for “kintsugi” divorced from its roots.

This program exists within that reality. It is not a romantic, stylized retreat of Japanese lifestyle.

It is participation.

Is This Kintsugi Workshop Right for You?

The people who come are not defined by profession, age, or background. What connects them is a shared curiosity, and a willingness to slow down and go deeper to understand kintsugi as a craft.

They are people who want to understand where materials come from. Some are comfortable sitting with a process that cannot be rushed. Some less interested in producing something quickly, and more interested in understanding why it is made the way it is.

Some arrive thinking they are simply learning kintsugi, but leaving to realize they have stepped into an ecosystem — one that asks for attention, patience, and responsibility.

If you are seeking depth, context, and substance of artisanship, you will likely find what you are looking for here.

Why 2026 Feels Important

Each year, we witness small but significant changes: aging foresters, rising material costs, fewer apprentices entering the field, and a growing global market using the word “kintsugi” without ever touching urushi.

This workshop is not about preserving the past as a museum piece. It is about ensuring that knowledge remains embodied, practiced, and supported.

A portion of the program fee continues to directly circulate within the local forestry and craft community - not as charity, but as collaboration.

This is the year you go beyond the candy-coated Tokyo and Kyoto.

Seats are limited and typically fill first through the early interest list.

If you have been waiting for the right year, this may be it.

Your journey begins here, see you in Daigo.

BOOK NOW! Limited Seats!

For returning alumni -- you already know this cannot be summarized in a single announcement. If you are considering coming back, reach out directly. We are quietly shaping a few considerations for those who wish to return.

To everyone else: thank you for caring enough about craft to read this far.

We look forward to welcoming the 2026 cohort into the forest.