{"product_id":"minohara-koichi-murakami-tsuishu-carved-pine-natsume-with-tomobako","title":"Minohara Koichi Murakami Tsuishu Carved Pine Natsume With Tomobako","description":"Experience authentic Japanese carved lacquer mastery with this Murakami Tsuishu Natsume by Minohara Koichi. This red carved lacquer tea caddy serves as a Chado Treasure and Intangible Heritage Piece, featuring Tsuishu Pine Carving and Deep Relief Artistry—a must-have for any Japanese lacquer collector seeking Cultural Property Craft and Murakami Lacquer excellence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Minohara Koichi (三野原晃一)\u003cbr\u003e• Designation: Niigata Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property Holder (新潟県無形文化財)\u003cbr\u003e• Type: Murakami Tsuishu Natsume (村上堆朱棗) — carved red lacquer tea caddy\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: H ≈ 6.5 cm, D ≈ 6.8 cm\u003cbr\u003e• Material: Wood core with hundreds of layers of red urushi lacquer, carved in deep relief\u003cbr\u003e• Motif: Matsu (松) — pine tree landscape\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Excellent — no chips, cracks, or lacquer loss\u003cbr\u003e• Includes: Tomobako (artist-signed wooden box)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, Japan\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Showa–Heisei\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMurakami Tsuishu is one of Japan's most revered lacquer traditions, originating in the castle town of Murakami in Niigata Prefecture over three centuries ago. Unlike maki-e, which applies gold onto lacquer surfaces, tsuishu achieves its decoration through a subtractive process of extraordinary patience: dozens — sometimes hundreds — of layers of red urushi lacquer are applied one by one, each layer requiring days to cure in a humidity-controlled room. Only when the lacquer body has reached sufficient depth does the carver begin, sculpting intricate motifs in deep relief through the accumulated strata of crimson resin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMinohara Koichi is among the foremost living practitioners of this art, honored as a holder of Niigata Prefecture's Intangible Cultural Property designation for Murakami Tsuishu. His pine tree motif — a subject laden with symbolism of longevity, steadfastness, and endurance through harsh winters — wraps the entire surface of this natsume in a continuous landscape of gnarled branches and fan-shaped needle clusters. The depth of his carving reveals the internal structure of the lacquer itself, with subtle tonal variations emerging from layers applied at different stages, lending the crimson surface an almost geological richness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*\"Layer upon layer, red as the dawn — the carver's blade reveals what patience has hidden within the lacquer's heart.\"*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Form \u0026amp; Composition:** The natsume form — named for its resemblance to the jujube fruit — provides an ideal canvas for tsuishu carving. Its continuous curved surface allows the pine landscape to flow uninterrupted around the body and across the lid, creating a panoramic scene with no seams or visual breaks. Minohara Koichi has composed the pine branches to follow the natural curvature of the vessel, with the most densely clustered foliage crowning the lid top and the gnarled trunk descending along the sides, giving the piece a sense of organic growth rather than applied decoration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Carving Technique \u0026amp; Depth:** Murakami Tsuishu carving employs a vocabulary of cuts — v-grooves, rounded channels, and flat planes — to model three-dimensional forms within the lacquer mass. The pine needle clusters are rendered as overlapping fans of fine parallel grooves, each needle individually articulated. The bark of the trunk is carved with bold, irregular channels that suggest the rough texture of aged pine. The relief depth varies deliberately: foreground branches project more prominently while background elements recede, creating an illusion of spatial depth within what is essentially a shallow surface. This mastery of pictorial depth within mere millimeters of lacquer is the hallmark of a designated cultural property holder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Color \u0026amp; Material Quality:** The deep crimson hue of Murakami Tsuishu is unmistakable — richer and more saturated than the reds of Chinese cinnabar lacquer, with a warmth that deepens with age and handling. The red comes from the natural urushi itself, colored with iron oxide or cinnabar pigments and layered until the accumulated mass achieves a density that supports deep carving without chipping. The bottom of the natsume reveals a black lacquer base, providing a visual foundation that grounds the floating crimson world above and protecting the structural core beneath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Cultural Significance \u0026amp; Provenance:** Murakami Tsuishu was designated as a Traditional Craft of Japan (伝統的工芸品) and remains a point of civic pride for Murakami city. Minohara Koichi's recognition as a prefectural Intangible Cultural Property holder places him among the guardians of this tradition, entrusted with preserving techniques that cannot be learned from books but only through years of apprenticeship. The pine motif itself carries layered meaning in the tea ceremony context: matsu (松) is homophonous with \"to wait\" (待つ), evoking the patient anticipation of the tea gathering and the enduring spirit of the host.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【基本情報】\u003cbr\u003e• 作家：三野原晃一\u003cbr\u003e• 指定：新潟県無形文化財保持者\u003cbr\u003e• 作品：村上堆朱 棗（松図）\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法：高さ約6.5cm、径約6.8cm\u003cbr\u003e• 素材：木地に朱漆数十層〜百数十層、彫刻仕上げ\u003cbr\u003e• 付属：共箱\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：新潟県村上市\u003cbr\u003e• 時代：昭和〜平成\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【解説】\u003cbr\u003e村上堆朱は、新潟県村上市に三百年以上伝わる漆芸の至宝です。朱漆を幾十層と塗り重ね、十分な厚みが得られた後に初めて彫刻刀を入れるという、気の遠くなるような工程を経て生まれます。三野原晃一氏は、この技法の保持者として新潟県無形文化財に指定された名工です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e本作は松図を全面に彫り込んだ棗で、蓋から胴にかけて老松の幹と枝が途切れることなく展開しています。扇形に広がる松葉の一本一本まで丁寧に彫り分けられ、幹の樹皮には力強い刀痕が走ります。堆朱特有の深い朱色は、年月を経て更に艶を増し、使い込むほどに美しさを深める逸品です。茶席において松は長寿と不変の象徴であり、「待つ」に通じる縁起の良い文様として珍重されています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*\"Crimson as a winter sunrise over Murakami's snow — each carved pine needle holds three centuries of patience and devotion.\"*","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61575480148338,"sku":"240830-a-0594","price":1398.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m40370414914_1.jpg?v=1770463741","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/minohara-koichi-murakami-tsuishu-carved-pine-natsume-with-tomobako","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}