Lacquerware in the context of "Lacquer"

In Japanese history, the Jōmon period (Japanese: 縄文 時代, Hepburn: Jōmon jidai) is the time between c. 14,000 and 300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism and cultural complexity. Their ancestors migrated from Northeast Asia, Korean Peninsula, China, and Southeast Asia. Their civilization is divided into six distinct phases. They eventually admixed with the Yayoi people.

The Jōmon period was rich in tools and jewelry made from bone, stone, shell and antler; pottery figurines and vessels; and lacquerware. Jōmon pottery is noted for being decorated by having cords pressed into the wet outside of the pottery. Similar cultures developed in pre-Columbian cultures of the North American Pacific Northwest and especially the Valdivia culture in Ecuador because in these settings cultural complexity developed within a primarily hunting-gathering context with limited use of horticulture.

Toxicodendron vernicifluum (formerly Rhus verniciflua), also known by the common name Chinese lacquer tree, is an Asian tree species of genus Toxicodendron native to China and the Indian subcontinent, and cultivated in regions of China, Japan and Korea. Other common names include poison sumac, Japanese lacquer tree, Japanese sumac, and varnish tree. The trees are cultivated and tapped for their toxic sap, which is used as a highly durable lacquer to make Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lacquerware.

The trees grow up to 20 metres tall with large leaves, each containing from 7 to 19 leaflets (most often 11–13). The sap contains the allergenic compound urushiol, which gets its name from this species' Japanese name urushi (urushi (漆)); "urushi" is also used in English as a collective term for all kinds of Asian lacquerware made from the sap of this and related Asian tree species, as opposed to European "lacquer" or Japanning made from other materials. Urushiol is also the oil found in poison ivy and poison oak that causes a rash.

Carved lacquer or Qidiao (Chinese: 漆雕) is a distinctive Chinese form of decorated lacquerware. While lacquer has been used in China for at least 3,000 years, the technique of carving into very thick coatings of it appears to have been developed in the 12th century CE. It is extremely time-consuming to produce, and has always been a luxury product, essentially restricted to China, though imitated in Japanese lacquer in somewhat different styles. The producing process is called Diaoqi (雕漆, carving lacquer).

Though most surviving examples are from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the main types of subject matter for the carvings were all begun under the Song dynasty, and the development of both these and the technique of carving were essentially over by the early Ming. These types were the abstract guri or Sword-Pommel pattern, figures in a landscape, and birds and plants. To these some designs with religious symbols, animals, auspicious characters (right) and imperial dragons can be added.

The National Treasure (国宝, kokuhō) refers to Tangible Cultural Properties designated by Japanese law as: “having exceptionally high value”. It applies to buildings, artworks, and crafts; selected from Important Tangible Cultural Properties by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). A Tangible Cultural Property is considered to be of historic or of artistic value, classified either as buildings and structures or as fine-arts and crafts. Each National Treasure must demonstrate outstanding workmanship, high value for world cultural history, or exceptional value for scholarship.

Approximately 20% of the National Treasures are structures such as castles, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, or residences. The remaining 80% include paintings, scrolls, sutras, calligraphy, sculptures in wood, bronze, lacquer or stone, as well as crafts such as pottery, lacquerware, metalworks, swords, textiles, and archaeological artifacts. The items span the period from ancient to early modern Japan before the Meiji period, including pieces of the world's oldest pottery from the Jōmon period and 19th-century documents and writings. The designation of the Akasaka Palace in 2009, the Tomioka Silk Mill in 2014, and the Kaichi School added three modern, post-Meiji Restoration National Treasures.

A cup is a small container used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape and an open "mouth", and often with a capacity of about 6–16 US fluid ounces (177–473 ml). Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, polystyrene, plastic, lacquerware, or other materials. Normally, a cup is brought in contact with the mouth for drinking, distinguishing it from other tableware and drinkware forms such as jugs; however, a straw and/or lid may also be used. They also often have handles, though many do not, including beakers which have no handle or stem, or small bowl shapes which are very common in Asia.

There are many specific terms for different types of cups in different cultures, many depending on the type of drink they are mostly used for, and the material they are made of; in particular, cups made of glass are mostly called a "glass" in contemporary English. Cups of different styles may be used for different types of liquids or other foodstuffs (e.g, teacups and measuring cups), in different situations (e.g, at water stations or in ceremonies and rituals), or for decoration.

Hirameji (Japanese: “flat dust base”) is a Japanese lacquerware technique using flakes of gold or silver. Hirmeji is believed to have been from an earlier, Heian period technique known as "heijin".