Japan · Metalwork / Gold Working
金沢箔打ち (Kanazawa Hakuuchi)
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. Unlike Mandalay gold leaf (CRAFT-0423) which produces leaf for Buddhist devotional application, Kanazawa hakuuchi produces gold leaf for lacquerware decoration (CRAFT-0460, 0461, 0468, 0498), Buddhist sculpture gilding, food decoration, and cosmetics. The technical tradition is structurally similar to Mandalay — progressive beating in packet stages — but uses a different paper (mino washi with persimmon tannin treatment, called 'kinpaku mino' — not the U Chein bamboo paper of Mandalay) and targets a slightly thicker leaf (1/10,000mm vs Mandalay's 1/10,000mm — effectively equivalent thickness, different finishing). The Kanazawa tradition distinguishes itself through the cutting and packaging stage: each leaf is cut with a bamboo knife (not metal scissors — metal would stick to the leaf) to exact 10.9cm × 10.9cm standard dimensions.
Risk level: Endangered · Japan national Important Traditional Craft Product
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