Kagawa Lacquerware Hon-Kinma (Kinma Lacquer) with Box Kogo (Incense Container), Sanuki Lacquerware The origin of Kinma lacquerware is in Thailand and Myanmar, and it was introduced to Japan in the mid-Muromachi period. Kinma involves carving patterns into the surface of the repeatedly applied middle coat with a knife (ken) and filling the recesses with colored lacquer. In that it carves the surface of the lacquer, it is similar to Chinkin (gold inlay), but the unique technique involves repeatedly carving and filling with different colored lacquers such as vermilion and yellow, and then polishing the surface flat once all the filling is complete. The Kinma technique, perfected by Tamakushi Zokoku, a pioneer of Kagawa lacquerware, was inherited by his younger brother, Fujikawa Kokusai, and established as a technique of Kinma lacquerware in Kagawa. Since the late Isoi Joshin was designated a Living National Treasure in 1955 as a holder of the Kinma technique, Kagawa has produced four Living National Treasures, including Isoi Masami, Ota Tsutomu, and newly, Yamashita Yoshito. Currently, works utilizing the Kinma technique are exhibited in large numbers at the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) and traditional crafts exhibitions, competing in beauty and skill.