This training offers a true immersion in the refined art of Japanese urushi lacquer. Through a technical yet sensitive approach, it invites participants to discover ancestral know-how, based on mastery of technique, patience, and the pursuit of surface perfection.

At the end of the training, the trainee will be able to:

• Understand the origins and specificities of urushi. Participants will have acquired knowledge of the unique properties of Japanese vegetable lacquer, its history, and the challenges associated with its use (ecology, rarity, tradition).
• Discover traditional tools and materials. They will be able to identify and handle specific urushi tools (spatulas, brushes, raw materials) and will have learned the basics of their maintenance.
• Acquire the fundamental techniques for applying lacquer. Trainees will have practiced surface preparation techniques, thin-layer application, and polishing, and will understand the importance of time and humidity in the process.
• Experience a first personal creation. They will have created one or more pieces (small objects, test panels, samples) according to their skill level, allowing them to put the knowledge they have learned into practice.
• Understand the requirements and potential of urushi in a contemporary approach.

The aim of this training is to allow participants to discover and experiment with traditional Japanese urushi lacquer techniques, while gaining a comprehensive understanding of its aesthetic, cultural, and technical implications.
Over the course of five days, participants will learn to identify and handle the materials, tools, and supports required for lacquer work. They will be introduced to the entire creative process, from preparing the wooden support to the finest decorative finishes.

They will develop the essential skills related to surface preparation, making lacquer glue, and applying the various layers of coating (coarse, fine, textured). They will also discover the kanshitsu technique, which consists of shaping forms from glued canvas, as well as traditional sanding, polishing, and wipe-on lacquering processes.

The training will finally cover the iconic decorative steps of Japanese lacquer art: applying gold leaf, preparing pigment-colored lacquers, and creating a Maki-e design using metallic powder.

By the end of the course, participants will have acquired sufficient autonomy to understand and reproduce the main stages of urushi lacquer work. They will be able to design and finalize a simple piece, respecting the drying times, textures, and technical requirements specific to this living material.

Procedure

Day 1

Morning

• Welcome the trainees
• Presentation of the course schedule
• Video presentation of lacquer harvesting
• Presentation of the tools
• Start of the plate preparation steps for a lacquered wood support
• Preparation of the lacquer glue

Afternoon

• Discovery of Kanshitsu (placing glued canvas on a mold)
• Laying the canvas on the plate steps
• Discovery of traditional charcoal sanding on a black plate
• Beginning of polishing
• Laying wiped lacquer on a bowl Japanese

Day 2

Morning and Afternoon

• Coarse lacquer coating on kanshitsu canvas
• Coarse lacquer coating (kiriko) on a wooden slab
• Intermediate polishing step on a black plate
• Wipe lacquer on a Japanese bowl
• Gold leaf on a chopstick
• Hand polishing and wiping lacquer on a black plate

Day 3

Morning and Afternoon

• Laying glued canvas on kanshitsu
• Fine lacquer coating (sabi) on a wooden slab
• Intermediate polishing step on a black plate
• Wipe lacquer and tetsu sabi textured coating on a Japanese bowl
• Wipe lacquer on a black plate

Day 4

Morning and Afternoon

• Removal of the kanshitsu mold and waterproofing of the interior of the form
• Applying two coats of lacquer to the wooden plate
• Final polishing of the black plate and preparation of the Maki-e design
• Applying lacquer to a textured Japanese bowl
• Cleaning the gold leaf on the chopsticks and applying a protective layer
• Preparing a pigment-colored lacquer

Day 5

Morning and Afternoon

• Exterior lacquer on the kanshitsu form
• Maki-e drawing on a black board and applying metallic powder
• Applying colored lacquer to a textured Japanese bowl
• Summary of techniques covered during the week
• Tidying up the workshop

Nicolas Pinon

Vegetable lacquerer and ambassador of rare expertise

Nicolas Pinon is one of the few vegetable lacquerers in France. Trained in cabinetmaking at the École Boulle, he discovered Japanese Urushi lacquer by chance in 2003 and decided to devote himself to it fully. He trained in Barcelona, ​​then joined the Brugier workshop in Paris, where he restored and created decorations for international projects.

Passionate about this ancient material extracted from the sap of an Asian tree, he deepened his expertise in Japan in 2006, under the great master Nagatoshi Onishi. There, he learned the kanshitsu technique, used to create statues for Buddhist temples. This immersive training gave him an intimate understanding of lacquer, both in its technical rigor and its spiritual dimension.

Returning to France, he became a freelance lacquer decorator in 2008. He collaborated with design and architecture figures such as Jacques Garcia and Joseph Karam, while developing his own research. In 2017, he took over the workshop of a master lacquerer in Paris, on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where he still practices.

His practice is based on patience, repetition, and excellence of technique. Each piece requires time, sometimes up to fifty layers of lacquer, with several weeks of drying time between each. This deliberate slowness is in contrast to the contemporary world.
Nicolas Pinon considers lacquering a collaborative craft. Wood, metal, ceramic: his works are often the result of dialogues with other artisans, designers, or artists. This philosophy of sharing is also reflected in his desire to pass on his knowledge: he trains apprentices, teaches at GRETA and the École Boulle, and leads workshops on Japanese know-how.

Recipient of several major awards, including the Banque Populaire Foundation, the Young Talents Prize for Artistic Crafts, and most importantly, the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the Intelligence of the Hand (Dialogues category) in 2020, his work has been recognized for its finesse, depth, and ability to bridge tradition and innovation.

Today, Nicolas Pinon continues to bring vegetable lacquer to life between Paris and Japan, pushing the aesthetic and technical limits of this ancestral material. He champions a sensitive, demanding, and profoundly human approach to artistic crafts.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Materials provided
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop work
• Active participation and experimentation of participants are encouraged

• Collective and personalized monitoring of work, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Collective feedback
• Half-day attendance sheet
• Certification of completion issued by Campus MaNa