Message #46153

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Adrian,

     Again, a facinating post! Thank you.

     But, while you acknowledged my comment re. my friends and their loyalty to the Japanese way of doing things at the end of the post, to the exclusion of 'unacceptable techniques', you did not say whether the Japanese restrictions on certain ways of working are because of inability or only due to their being unwilling.

     I have spoken to a craftsman who also works in black and red lacquer, and he claims it is possible to polish lacquer in hard to get at places, with specific fine tools, and that it should have been possible in the 18th C., as well.
   
     I will have to reread this and the prior posts. I have a collection of mainly Taisho Obis, and also Taisho Obi Designs produced as wood block prints (among a lot of collecting subjects), and the Japanese taste can be amazing.

Best,
Joey
   When