Shû Hananuri

HANANURI or NURITATE (unpolished urushi)

Another technique that is mainly used on kitchen utensils is called "Nuritate" or «Hananuri». You may also know it from the "Tamenuri" pens from Nakaya. Here, one or more layers of high-quality, transparent urushi "sukurome" or transparent black urushi is applied to a pigmented, finely sanded urushi surface. The Nuritate surface is not ground and polished and therefore any dust must be avoided respectively picked out with a bamboo needle before curing in the «urushiburo». The underlying color can be partially seen shining through the Nuritate layer. The result with high-quality Nuritate is a silky matt finish. The Japanese love to experience how the contact points where the hands touch, e.g. with chopsticks, change color with time of use. "O-Hashi" begin to shine. "Yô no Bi" beauty through use is a typical Japanese aesthetic concept.