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The Depository documents 92 techniques in Japan; by risk level: 30 critically endangered, 41 endangered, 14 vulnerable, 7 stable. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
Bizen-yaki (備前焼) is Japan's most ancient continuing ceramic tradition — one of the Six Ancient Kilns (六古窯 Rokkoyo) and the only major Japanese ceramic tradition that uses no glaze whatsoever: color, surface texture, and decorative effects…
Echizen ware is produced around Echizen-chō in Fukui Prefecture, on Japan's west coast, with pottery activity tracing back roughly 1,300 years and its identity as a distinct production area emerging about 850 years ago in the late Heian…
Hagi-yaki (萩焼) is the feudal domain pottery of Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture — established by Korean potters brought to Japan after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Korean campaigns (1592–1598) and producing the distinctive soft-bodied, highly porous…
Arita-yaki (有田焼) is Japan's first true porcelain tradition — established after Korean potter Yi Sam-pyeong discovered the kaolin deposit at Izumiyama in 1616 CE, and quickly becoming Japan's primary export ceramic to Europe through the…
Kintsugi ('golden joinery') is the Japanese lacquer-and-precious-metal technique for repairing broken ceramics, in which fractured pieces are rejoined using urushi lacquer and the resulting seams are finished with dusted gold, silver, or…
Kutani-yaki (九谷焼) is the overglaze enamel porcelain tradition of Ishikawa Prefecture — famous for its bold, all-over enamel painting in the five colors (五彩手 gosai-de — green, yellow, red, purple, dark blue) with gold, covering virtually…
Kiyomizuyaki (清水焼) is the umbrella designation for Kyoto's diverse ceramic tradition — named for the Kiyomizu area of eastern Kyoto where kilns have operated since the early Edo period.
Mashiko-yaki (益子焼) is the folk pottery tradition of Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture — transformed from a regional utilitarian tradition into an internationally recognized folk craft center by Hamada Shoji (濱田庄司, 1894–1978), Living…
Seto, in Aichi Prefecture near Nagoya, is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and the only one of the six with a deep historical tradition of glazing — ash-glazed ware was revived here in the early Kamakura period (late 12th century), and…
Shigaraki ware, produced in the Shigaraki area of Shiga Prefecture, traces its origins to the 8th century Nara period, when local kilns produced roof tiles for the Shigaraki Palace; its present style was established roughly 600 years ago…
Tamba-Tachikui-yaki (丹波立杭焼) is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns — producing unglazed or naturally-ashed stoneware continuously for 800 years in Tachikui village, Hyogo Prefecture.
Tokoname is the oldest and largest of Japan's 'Six Ancient Kilns,' a pottery tradition on the Chita Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture, dating to the late Heian period (c.
Arayachi (荒焼, 'rough-fired ware') is the unglazed branch of Tsuboya ware, Okinawa's principal pottery tradition — the stoneware of storage: great water jars, awamori and miso jars, and many shisa guardian lions.
Jōyachi (上焼, 'upper/fine-fired ware') is the glazed, decorated branch of Tsuboya ware in Naha, Okinawa: slip-covered tableware, sake vessels and vases painted, carved and glazed with natural stone-and-coral glazes.
Chibana hanaori (知花花織) is the float-weave of the former Misato Village, today's Chibana, Noborikawa and Ikehara districts of Okinawa City.
The hand-spinning, weaving, and snow-bleaching of ramie fiber into Echigo jōfu, a fine summer-kimono linen from Japan's snow country of Niigata Prefecture, documented in the Shosoin Repository built in 756 CE and practiced continuously for…
Haebaru hanaori (南風原花織) is the figured weaving of Haebaru Town, Okinawa's largest weaving center, woven there since the Meiji era alongside the town's Ryukyu kasuri.
Hakata-Ori (博多織) is the silk weaving tradition of Fukuoka City — the oldest surviving textile tradition in Japan with documented continuous production from 1241 CE (when Mitsuda Yazaemon returned from Song Dynasty China with weaving…
Uchishiki (打敷 — 'spread cloth') is the decorative Buddhist altar textile draped over the frontal surface of the altar table in front of the principal Buddha image — produced in Kyoto Nishijin nishiki brocade (錦 nishiki) with Buddhist…
Nishijin-ori (西陣織) is Japan's supreme silk weaving tradition — centered in the Nishijin district of Kyoto and producing the obi sash and kimono fabric for court, theatrical, and ceremonial use for over 1,200 years.
Ryukyu kasuri (琉球絣) is the ikat of Haebaru, a town next to Naha and the largest textile producer in Okinawa.
Shuri textiles (首里の織物) are the court and aristocratic cloths of Shuri, the former Ryukyu royal capital — a family of figured weaves and ikat rather than a single technique.
Tatami (畳) mat making is the craft of producing Japan's traditional floor covering — a composite structure of rice straw base (床 toko), woven rush surface (ゴザ goza — from igusa rush, Juncus effusus), and decorative border tape (縁 heri).
Yaeyama minsā (八重山ミンサー) is a narrow indigo cotton sash, about 10 cm wide, woven on Ishigaki and Taketomi as a warp-rib (warp-faced) cloth with a white hand-bound ikat.
Yomitanzan hanaori (読谷山花織) is the float-weave of Yomitan Village on central Okinawa Island: on a plain-weave ground, typically dark indigo or white, colored threads — white, yellow, red, green — are floated to form small geometric…
Yomitanzan minsā (読谷山ミンサー) is Yomitan's narrow cotton sash, about 10 cm wide.
Yonaguni-ori (与那国織) is the collective name for four textiles of Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, from which Taiwan is visible on clear days.
Yuki Tsumugi (結城紬) is a UNESCO inscribed silk weaving tradition of Yuki City on the Ibaraki-Tochigi border — producing the most highly valued everyday silk textile in Japan, prized for its light weight, warmth, and characteristic handspun…
Edo Komon (江戸小紋 — Edo fine pattern) is the stencil-resist dyeing tradition of Tokyo — producing extremely fine all-over geometric patterns on silk or cotton fabric using hand-cut paper stencils (型紙 katagami) and rice-paste resist.
Awa-Ai (阿波藍) is the Japanese fermentation indigo tradition of Tokushima Prefecture (formerly Awa Province) — Japan's historic indigo center — producing sukumo (宿木 — composted indigo leaf), the fermented indigo pigment source used in…
Kaga Yuzen (加賀友禅) is the regional Yuzen dyeing tradition of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture — distinct from Kyoto Yuzen (CRAFT-0459) in five specific ways codified as the 'five secrets of Kaga Yuzen' (加賀五彩 Kaga gosaï): the color palette…
Kumejima tsumugi (久米島紬) is a hand-woven silk pongee from Kumejima, west of Okinawa Island, and is often called the root of Japanese tsumugi.
Kyō-Kanoko (京鹿の子絞り — Kyoto fawn-spot resist dyeing) is the most labor-intensive resist-dyeing tradition in the world — producing the characteristic white dot pattern on dyed silk by individually binding each dot (each dot requires one…
Kyō-Yūzen (京友禅) is Japan's supreme textile painting tradition — developed in Kyoto in the early Edo period (attributed to fan painter Miyazaki Yūzensai, c.1680) and now designating a multi-stage technique combining starch-paste resist (糊置き…
Bingata (紅型 — crimson/abundant pattern) is the royal court textile dyeing tradition of Okinawa (formerly Ryukyu Kingdom) — the only Japanese regional dyeing tradition with a distinct non-mainland origin: Bingata reflects the Ryukyu…
Ōshima Tsumugi (大島紬) is the luxury silk weaving tradition of Amami Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture — the most expensive silk textile in Japan and one of the most technically complex textile traditions in the world.
Tsutsugaki (筒描き — 'tube drawing') is the freehand resist paste drawing tradition of Japan — the rural counterpart to the court Yuzen tradition (CRAFT-0459), using the same rice-paste cone (nori-tsutsu) technique but applied freehand on…
Ūji Zome (ウージ染め) is dyeing and weaving with sugarcane (ūji in Okinawan), developed in Tomigusuku as a village-revitalization project of the local Chamber of Commerce in 1989.
Echizen Washi (越前和紙) is the premier Japanese paper-making tradition of Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture — producing hosho (奉書) paper for woodblock printing, calligraphy, and document certification since the Heian period (794–1185 CE), and…
Gifu Wagasa (岐阜和傘) is the traditional Japanese umbrella of Gifu City's Kano district, built from a washi paper canopy pulled taut over 30-70 carved bamboo ribs radiating from a wooden hub (rokuro) atop a bamboo shaft.
Kyō-Sensu (京扇子) is the Japanese folding fan tradition of Kyoto — the origin of the folding fan itself (invented in Japan c.
Kyō-Washi (京和紙) is the handmade paper tradition supplying Kyoto's Buddhist manuscript, screen painting, and calligraphy needs — closely linked to the paper-making centers of Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) and Ogawa (Saitama Prefecture) that…
The hand-forming of washi paper in Mino, Gifu Prefecture, along a 1,300-year tradition traced to a surviving 702 CE household register document, still preserved in Nara's Shosoin Repository, made from paper mulberry (kozo) fiber grown…
Two textiles made from washi in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture.
Shoji (障子) is the translucent paper screen used in traditional Japanese rooms as partitions and window coverings — combining the joinery tradition of the wooden lattice frame (組子 kumiko — joined wood) with the paper-hanging tradition using…
Suminagashi ("floating ink") is a Japanese paper-marbling technique in which sumi ink and a surfactant are alternately touched to the surface of plain, unsized water to form concentric rings, which are gently manipulated by breath or fan…
Ukiyo-e nishiki-e (浮世絵錦絵 — 'floating world brocade picture') is the multi-color woodblock printing tradition of Edo (Tokyo) — developed from 1765 by Suzuki Harunobu and producing the iconic prints of the Edo period that transformed…
Edo Bekko (江戸鼈甲) is Tokyo's traditional tortoiseshell craft, worked from the shell of the Taimai (hawksbill sea turtle) — prized for its transparent amber base and dark, irregular mottling, of which only about 10% of a shell's surface…
Nihonto (日本刀 — Japanese sword) making is one of the world's most technically demanding metalworking traditions — producing the Japanese sword from tamahagane (玉鋼 — jewel steel) made by smelting iron sand (砂鉄 satetsu) in a traditional clay…
Kanazawa Hakuuchi (金沢箔打ち — Kanazawa gold leaf beating) is Japan's primary gold leaf production tradition — Kanazawa producing over 98% of all Japanese gold leaf.
Butsugu Kanagu (仏具金具 — Buddhist implement metalwork) is the tradition of producing the bronze and copper ritual objects for Buddhist altar use — incense burners (香炉 kōro), flower vases (花瓶 kabin), candlesticks (燭台 shokudai), and ritual…
Kyō-Kanzashi (京かんざし) is the art of making Japanese hair ornaments — specifically the elaborate seasonal ornaments worn by Kyoto's maiko (apprentice geisha) in the Gion district.
Owari shippō is the Nagoya-centered Japanese cloisonné enamel tradition that reached its technical peak during the Meiji-era "Golden Age" of roughly 1880–1910.
Nambu Tekki (南部鉄器) is the cast iron craft tradition of Morioka and Mizusawa in Iwate Prefecture — producing the iconic tetsubin (鉄瓶 — cast iron kettle) and iron tea ceremony accessories that have become Japan's most internationally…
Kanzeku (金細工, 'metal work', read kuganizēku) was the Ryukyu court trade that made every kind of metalwork except iron under royal commission.
Ryukyu raden (螺鈿) is lacquer inlaid with shell, above all yakōgai, the great green turban shell of southern Ryukyuan waters.
Light, strong everyday objects made by layering washi over a base of paper, bamboo or wood and coating them with persimmon tannin (kakishibu) or urushi lacquer.
Kiso Shikki (木曽漆器) is the lacquerware tradition of the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture, built on the region's abundant local Japanese cypress (hinoki) timber and established at the start of the 17th century under the patronage of the…
Kyō-Nuri (京塗 — Kyoto lacquer) is the court lacquerware tradition of Kyoto — producing tea ceremony utensils (tea caddy, lacquered bowl stand, lacquered trays), Buddhist altar objects, and decorative boxes in urushi (Japanese lacquer —…
Maki-e (蒔絵 — 'sprinkled picture') is Japan's supreme lacquer decoration technique — applying designs by painting with urushi on a lacquer surface and sprinkling gold or silver powder while the urushi is still wet, then sealing and…
Ryukyu Shikki (琉球漆器) is the lacquerware tradition of Okinawa — distinct from mainland Japanese lacquer traditions in its use of a brilliant vermillion (朱 shu) as the primary color rather than black, and in a decorative repertoire of three…
Tsuikin (堆錦) is Ryukyu lacquer's relief-appliqué technique.
Urushi-kaki (漆掻き — lacquer scraping) is the practice of harvesting urushi sap from the Toxicodendron vernicifluum lacquer tree — the raw material for all Japanese lacquerware (CRAFT-0460, 0468, 0471).
Wajima-Nuri (輪島塗) is Japan's most technically rigorous lacquerware tradition — produced in Wajima on the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, and renowned for the 120+ process steps required for a single piece and the jinoiko (地の粉)…
Adan-leaf hats are hats plaited from split, boiled and sun-bleached leaves of adan (Pandanus odoratissimus), the screw pine of Okinawa's shorelines.
Beppu Take Zaiku (別府竹細工) is Japan's foremost bamboo craft tradition — centered in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture (Kyushu) and encompassing the widest range of bamboo weaving structures of any single tradition in the world: madake bamboo (真竹…
Bashōfu (芭蕉布) is cloth woven from the fiber of the ito-bashō, a fiber banana (Musa liukiuensis).
Kumihimo (組紐 — 'combined threads') is the Japanese braiding tradition producing the silk and cotton cords used for samurai armor lacing (odoshi), obi sash tying cord, tea ceremony equipment, and decorative objects.
Miyako jōfu (宮古上布) is a ramie cloth from Miyakojima and Tarama, woven from hand-spliced yarn so fine that a single warp strand is split to about the width of a hair.
Okinawan bamboo basketry is the weaving of everyday baskets from hōraichiku (Bambusa multiplex), a clump bamboo with long internodes and low nodes that bends without splitting.
Yaeyama jōfu (八重山上布) is a fine ramie cloth from Ishigaki and Taketomi in the Yaeyama Islands, Japan's far southwest.
The wood carving tradition of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands, whose distinct language, religion, and culture remain separate from Japan's own — traditionally the domain of Ainu men, who carved…
Kyō-Busshi (京仏師) is the Buddhist sculptural tradition of Kyoto — producing wooden Buddha images in two historic construction methods: ichiboku-zukuri (一木造 — single-block carving, dominant in early period) and yosegi-zukuri (寄木造 —…
The roof shisa (屋根獅子) is the guardian lion modeled in lime plaster directly on the red-tile roofs of Okinawan houses by the tile roofers who laid them.
Miyadaiku (宮大工 — shrine carpenter) is the tradition of building Japan's wooden Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines using timber joinery without nails or metal fasteners — all structural connections made from interlocking wooden joints.
Bunraku (文楽) is Japan's traditional puppet theater — UNESCO inscribed in 2003 — using puppets operated by three visible puppeteers per puppet: the omozukai (主遣い) operates the head and right hand, the hidarizukai (左遣い) operates the left…
The lathe-turning and hand-painting of kokeshi, limbless wooden dolls with a cylindrical body and round head, made by kijishi — woodturners of Japan's Tohoku region who otherwise produced bowls, trays, and household utensils — who began…
Kumiodori (組踊) is the Ryukyu court music-drama created in 1719 for the reception of Chinese investiture envoys.
Noh-men (能面) are the carved and painted wooden masks of Japan's Noh theater — one of the world's great mask traditions and, uniquely, a tradition where the mask controls the performer rather than the reverse: the subtle angle of the Noh…
Taiko (太鼓) drum making is the tradition of producing Japan's barrel drums — from the large nagado daiko (長胴太鼓 — long-barrel drum) used in Shinto shrines and festival music, to the smaller shime daiko (締め太鼓 — tightened drum) of Noh and…
The koto (琴/箏) is Japan's national instrument — a 13-stringed zither 180cm in length produced from paulownia (桐 kiri) wood.
The sanshin (三線) is Okinawa's three-stringed lute, the ancestor of the mainland shamisen.
Shamisen (三味線 — 'three flavor strings') is Japan's three-stringed lute — the primary stringed instrument of Kabuki theater, geisha music, and contemporary Tsugaru-jamisen performance.
Kyō-Nui (京繍 — Kyoto embroidery) is the court embroidery tradition of Kyoto — producing the embroidered elements of Noh costume, Buddhist vestments, and formal kimono accessories in silk and gold thread on silk ground cloth.
Noro (ノロ) are the priestesses of Ryukyuan religion, organized into a state hierarchy under King Shō Shin (r.
Ryukyu Ko-Shishū (琉球古刺繍) is the name given to the embroidery on the few surviving robes of the Ryukyu Kingdom's noro priestesses.
Sashiko (刺し子 — 'little stabs') is the Japanese running stitch embroidery tradition of Tohoku (northeastern Japan) and the Edo/Tokyo region — originating as a textile reinforcement technique for peasant work clothing (indigo-dyed cotton…
Edo Kiriko (江戸切子) is the cut glass tradition of Tokyo — originating in the Edo period (c.1834 CE) and producing the characteristic geometric cut patterns on colored-over-clear glass vessels using rotating grinding wheels.
Ryukyu glass (琉球ガラス) is Okinawa's hand-blown glass, made by free-blowing (chūbuki) and mold-blowing (katabuki).
Kusu (古酒) is aged awamori, and shitsugi (仕次ぎ) is the Ryukyu-era method that lets a household keep one alive for a century or more.
Kinpaku-oshi (金箔押し — gold leaf pressing) is the technique of applying gold leaf to wooden Buddhist sculptures, screens, and architectural elements using urushi adhesive (漆箔 urushi-haku) or sizing (膠箔 nikawa-haku) as the bonding medium.
Gusuku are the walled strongholds and sacred enclosures of the Ryukyu Islands; an estimated 300–400 dot the archipelago.