Lacquer is a type of resin obtained from varnish trees (Toxicodendron vernicifluum) endemic in East Asia. Since the Jomon period in Japan, pottery and various other objects are expected to be durable, with colors and decorations being added at times, thereby soothing and captivating people’s hearts. The Statue of Ashura, a Nara-period Buddhist sculpture masterpiece, is highly famous as a dry lacquer statue created by wrapping a clay core with layers of hemp, followed by applying a lacquer base coat called kokuso (a mixture of lacquer, sawdust, and other materials), refining the details, and then finishing with a coat of lacquer. The lacquer pieces and techniques left to us by our ancestors are truly broad ranging and rich—truly astounding works—but I believe lacquer to be a blessing from nature that is overflowing with creativity and bursting with potential even today.