Why Is Japanese Lacquerware So Expensive?
In brief
Why is Japanese lacquerware so expensive? Because real urushi is a scarce natural material and the work is slow. The sap is tapped by hand in small amounts, and each piece gets many thin coats that must cure and be polished one at a time, often over weeks or months, by specialists in different workshops. Much cheaper "lacquerware" usually replaces some of this with synthetic coatings, resin bases or fewer coats, which is why genuine urushi pieces cost more and wear differently.
If you've looked at a real urushi bowl or pair of chopsticks and wondered why it costs several times more than a similar-looking piece in a department store, you're asking a fair question. The price comes down to three things: a scarce raw material, a lot of time, and several sets of skilled hands. Here is where the money goes, how to tell what you're paying for, and whether it's worth it for everyday pieces.
Why is Japanese lacquerware so expensive? The short answer
- The material is scarce. Urushi is the sap of the urushi tree, collected by hand in small amounts.
- The process is slow. Good lacquerware is built up from many thin coats, each of which must cure and often be sanded or polished before the next.
- The work is specialized. Making the base and applying the lacquer are usually separate crafts, done by different workshops.
- Cheaper pieces cut corners you can't see. Synthetic coatings, resin bases and fewer coats lower the price and change how the piece looks, feels and ages.
The material: sap tapped by hand, in small amounts
Urushi comes from Toxicodendron vernicifluum, the lacquer tree. To collect it, a tapper cuts shallow lines into the bark and scrapes out the sap that beads up in each cut, working tree by tree through the summer and autumn. A tree has to grow for years before it can be tapped, and each tree gives only a small amount of sap in a season. In the traditional Japanese method, a tree is tapped intensively for one season and then felled.
The raw sap is then filtered and refined: stirred and gently heated to adjust its water content and consistency, and sometimes colored with pigments. Most urushi used in Japan today is imported, largely from China, and Japanese-grown urushi is a small and costly share of the supply. Either way, it is a natural material harvested by hand, and there is no quick way to produce more of it.
Uncured urushi sap can also cause a skin rash, so every step before curing takes care and experience. Once fully cured, urushi forms a hard, stable film that has long been used on Japanese tableware (see is urushi lacquer food safe?). For more on the material itself, see our guide to how urushi cures and changes over time.
The time: coats, curing, polishing
Urushi doesn't dry the way paint does. It cures: an enzyme in the sap, laccase, uses moisture from the air to harden the film. Traditionally, freshly coated pieces are placed in a warm, humid cabinet to cure, and each thin coat needs time before the next can go on. Between coats, the surface is often sanded smooth so the following layer sits evenly. Rushing any of this shows in the finish.
That's why a single piece can take weeks or months to finish, and why you can't simply speed up production when demand rises.
Chopsticks Classic: 10+ coats, two months per pair
THE URUSHI's wooden Chopsticks Classic show what this means in practice. They are shaped by woodworkers in Ishikawa, then finished by our lacquerers in Kyoto in tame-nuri: more than ten coats of translucent urushi over a red base. Each pair takes about two months. The chopsticks start out close to black and slowly clear with use, so the warm red underneath comes through over the years. Because the core is wood, they are hand wash only.
Stainless pieces: six rounds, each heat-cured
Our stainless steel chopsticks, rest, spoon and fork use a different technique, yakitsuke, with roots going back roughly 500 years. Each piece is coated and heat-cured six times — three rounds for each half — and each round is cured with heat at around 120–170°C instead of in a humid cabinet. The heat cures the urushi almost instantly and makes the finish tough and hard-wearing, which is why these pieces are dishwasher-safe. The stainless pieces keep their deep black; only the wooden Chopsticks Classic change color with age. Heat-curing is faster per coat, but it still means six separate rounds by hand on a precision-made steel base.
The hands: specialist bases from four regions, finished in Kyoto
In Japanese craft, the base and the lacquer are usually made by different specialists. A woodturner or metalworker makes the form; a lacquerer finishes it. Each is a trade that takes years to learn. THE URUSHI works with makers in four regions, then finishes everything in urushi in Kyoto:
| Material | Made by | Finished |
|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel cutlery | Precision metalworkers in Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata | Kyoto, yakitsuke (six rounds) |
| Wooden chopsticks | Woodworkers in Ishikawa | Kyoto, tame-nuri (10+ coats) |
| Stone chopstick rests | INASE, Okazaki, Aichi | Kyoto, yakitsuke (heat-cured) |
| Placemat | Mino washi, Gifu | Kyoto, yakitsuke (heat-cured) |
We call this "two layers of craft." It's part of the cost, and part of what you're buying. The company behind THE URUSHI, Wakabayashi Butsugu Mfg. Co., Ltd., was founded in 1830 in Kyoto and has worked with urushi on Buddhist altars for nearly 200 years. You can read more about that history in Wakabayashi since 1830.
Cheap "lacquerware": what's usually different
Not every inexpensive piece is misleading, but "lacquer" is a loose word in English and many low-priced items differ from traditional urushiware in one or more ways:
- The coating. Synthetic lacquers, urethane or cashew-based coatings can look similar when new. They're cheaper and faster to apply, but they don't cure or age like urushi.
- The base. Molded resin or composite bases replace carved or turned wood.
- The number of coats. One or two sprayed coats instead of many hand-applied ones, sometimes with urushi only as a thin top layer.
- The labeling. Look for clear wording on both the base material and the coating. Vague terms like "lacquer finish" or "urushi-style" often signal a synthetic coating.
None of this makes cheaper pieces bad. For the terminology, see urushi vs lacquer vs resin. They're a different product at a different price. Our article on natural urushi versus imitation finishes explains how to read labels and what to ask a seller.
Is it worth it? Cost per use for everyday pieces
Whether lacquerware is worth the money depends on how you'll use it. A bowl kept in a cabinet for special occasions costs a lot per use. Pieces you use every day look very different.
Take THE URUSHI Full Set: urushi chopsticks, a chopstick rest, a spoon and a fork, all stainless steel with a yakitsuke finish, at a retail price of $198. Used every day for three years, that works out to about 18 cents a day, and because the stainless pieces are dishwasher-safe, they don't need special handling to earn that use.
During the Kickstarter campaign, open until November 14, 2026, the Full Set is available from $149 (retail $198) while the limited early tiers last. Rewards are estimated to ship in March 2027.
See Kickstarter pricing for THE URUSHI Full Set
For more on the thinking behind the collection, see our concept page.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Why is urushi so expensive?
A. Urushi is a natural sap tapped by hand from lacquer trees, and each tree gives only a small amount in a season. Refining it, applying it in many thin coats and curing each coat takes time and specialist skill, and most urushi used in Japan today is imported, with Japanese-grown urushi costing more.
Q. How long does it take to make lacquerware?
A. It varies with the piece and the technique, from weeks to many months. THE URUSHI's wooden Chopsticks Classic receive more than ten coats and take about two months per pair. Heat-cured (yakitsuke) stainless pieces cure faster per coat but still go through six hand-applied rounds, three for each half.
Q. How can I tell cheap lacquerware from real urushi?
A. Check the label for both the base material and the coating. Real urushi pieces name urushi or natural lacquer specifically, while vague terms like "lacquer finish" or "urushi-style" often mean a synthetic coating. Price, the number of coats and the maker's willingness to explain the process are also good signs.
Q. Is lacquerware worth the money?
A. It is most worth it for pieces you use every day. A set used daily for years costs little per use. Dishwasher-safe urushi on stainless steel makes daily use easier, while wooden lacquerware rewards a quick hand wash.
Q. Does lacquerware need to be re-coated?
A. Not on a fixed schedule. Traditional wooden lacquerware can lose some gloss or wear at the edges after years of use, and in Japan such pieces have long been re-coated by lacquer workshops rather than thrown away. Urushi heat-cured onto stainless steel is designed for daily use and dishwasher washing without special care.
Browse the full collection and live campaign details on our Kickstarter page.