Makie Raden Box "Ginkan (Milky Way)"

The Japanese word "Ginkan" means "Milky Way". I designed the Milky Way and spiral galaxy in this piece.
Among the spiral galaxy are the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
In the middle of the opposite side of the box (the other side of the box that cannot be seen in this photo) is the sun. There is also a beaming comet moving around in the sky.

I expressed the twinkling stars in space using raden (mother-of-pearl inlay) on the jet-black box.
I hope people can feel as if this makie box itself is a universe and enjoy it.

• Dry lacquer

  For works of dry lacquer (kanshitsu), first a clay form is created and plaster is used to take a mold of the form. Next, repeated layers of hemp cloth and lacquer are applied to the mold until they are built up to the desired thickness. Finally, the mold is removed and additional coats of lacquer are applied to finish the piece. The hemp fibers are strengthened when the lacquer bonds with them, making dry lacquer an excellent technique for creating sturdy forms with a significant degree of freedom.

• Urushi-e

  Urushi-e (“lacquer pictures”) is a decorative technique that consists of motifs painted in colored lacquer. Urushi-e is the oldest and most fundamental decorative lacquer technique.

• Maki-e

  Maki-e (literally “sprinkled pictures”) is a representative lacquerware technique that originated in Japan around 1,200 years ago. Maki-e is done by painting lacquer motifs on the surface of a piece using a fine brush and then sprinkling gold powder onto the lacquer before it hardens, producing luxurious decorations.

• Metal sheet inlay

  Metal sheet inlay (hyōmon) is a technique that involves cutting shapes out of thin sheets of gold, silver, or other metals to create an inlay motif.

• Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden)

  Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden) is a decorative technique that uses the iridescent inner layer of abalone shell, turban shell, pearl oyster shell, or other mollusk shells. The technique came to Japan from China 1,300 years ago, and pieces featuring mother-of-pearl inlay are included among the artifacts at the Shōsōin Repository in Nara.