Paint maker　Shimizu Kazuto

Master craftsman's skill in applying and hardening the sticky lacquer evenly.

Lacquer changes with the weather, temperature and humidity. Sometimes, the lacquer shrinks and has to be reapplied the day after the work is completed. Mr Shimizu laughs: "The lacquer tells me not to get carried away.
After graduating from high school, he spent five years learning basic techniques at the Wajima Lacquer Art Technical Training Institute and apprenticed himself to his father, a lacquer craftsman. What puzzled him when he entered the world of craftsmanship was the volume and speed required. Unlike his time at the training institute, where he was absorbed in creating works of art, he was taught that "the work of a craftsman is to deliver all 100 vessels after 100 are painted". Every time he made a mistake, he would look back and wonder whether the brush length was not suitable for the lacquer or whether the temperature and humidity were not suitable. He became absorbed in the moment when his ingenuity appeared on a vessel.
Of the 10 lacquer painters in Yamanaka, Mr Shimizu is the only one who does 'variegated lacquering'. He researches old methods and incorporates them into his own techniques, such as 'Murakumo' lacquering, in which soot from Japanese candles is applied to the lacquer before it hardens, and 'Hibi' lacquering, in which egg white is applied to create natural cracks on the lacquered surface.
You tame nature and make everything look the same. That's the most interesting thing about being a painter.