Hanada: Please tell us how you came to enter the world of woodworking and lacquer.

Hirotomo Doi: I grew up in a family that did hand-painted Yuzen, with craftsmen making kimonos around me.
As a child, there were no Famicoms or smartphones, and I always liked drawing. On rainy days, I would spend the whole day drawing.
I was supposed to take over the family business, so I attended a drawing class. The teacher there also worked on cultural property restoration, and during summer vacation, he invited me, saying, “Do you want to come along to help with the temple restoration where a monk completed the Sennichi Kaihōgyō?” I was about in sixth grade.
At first, I was only helping mix pigments, but from that point on, every summer I followed various cultural property restorations—Shugakuin, Katsura Imperial Villa, and so on.

－: That sounds like it was fun.

Hirotomo Doi: Well, I also got pocket money (laughs).
After that, I went on to art university.
I even applied to the Nitten Exhibition, and by then I wanted to be a painter rather than take over the family business, so I was always drawing. But I realized I couldn’t make a living from it.
Even so, when I was still invited to help with restorations, I would arrogantly reply, “As long as it doesn’t interfere with my painting, sure” (laughs).
I helped with many types of restorations, and eventually, I was made responsible for lacquer repairs.

－: So this is when you started working seriously with lacquer.

Hirotomo Doi: Actually, I have a sensitivity where even ordinary rubber can make me break out. But strangely enough, lacquer never irritates me.

－: It’s fate, then.

Hirotomo Doi: In crafts, lacquer is unique in that “the material chooses the maker.”
No matter how skilled you are, if your body isn’t compatible with lacquer, that’s it. Thinking that way, I felt proud—“It chose me.” Also, lacquer is a bit jealous…

－: What do you mean by that?

Hirotomo Doi: Lacquer work takes six months to a year to complete, and the cost of tools and materials is significant. It takes a long time to earn money.
Especially when I had just started out, it was tough, and I thought, “It might be easier to run a café or udon shop.” Then, my eyes suddenly swelled up.
They puffed up out of nowhere, and I had no idea why. After thinking a lot, I realized, “Maybe lacquer got upset because I was considering another job even though it had chosen me.” That was the only explanation I could come up with.
Since lacquer had chosen me, I had to dedicate myself fully. After a while, my eyes healed.

－: Even with swollen eyes, you moved forward. That’s very like you.

－: You handle both the lacquer and the woodworking yourself.

Hirotomo Doi: At first, I only did the lacquer. But if I asked someone to make the wooden forms from my drawings, they would only take orders of 100 or more. Right after independence, 100 is a huge number.
For example, I would bring samples to galleries in Kyoto and get some orders. Sometimes, they would request something like, “Make the foot 5 millimeters higher.” But for me, I couldn’t produce the next batch unless I sold 100 pieces. That’s when I realized, “I can’t rely on others for the wooden forms.”

－: So you started making the wooden forms yourself.

Hirotomo Doi: At first, I received wooden blanks and carved them one by one with a chisel. This was about 30 years ago.
Then, one plate started selling very well. Selling is good, but I had to carve all of them myself. I was using only my hands, and eventually my back gave out, and I couldn’t stand.

That’s when I thought of using a lathe. But unlike pottery classes, woodworking lathe lessons weren’t easily available, so I considered learning it in Wajima, where I studied lacquer.
However, Wajima had a strict division of labor, and craftsmen took immense pride in their individual craft. Combining carving and lacquer was unprecedented.
“They spend a lifetime mastering one path.” But in life, you can’t have one life for lacquer and another for carving, being reborn multiple times.

－: (laughs)

Hirotomo Doi: So I pleaded, and they taught me.

Hirotomo Doi: By the way, before I could use a lathe, I made objects by wrapping lacquer-soaked ropes around a plaster mold.
There were ropes inside and outside, with eight layers of fabric in between, and the whole thing was reinforced with Japanese paper. This is called rope-lacquerware.
But it used an enormous amount of lacquer.

－: (laughs) It soaks all the way through.

Hirotomo Doi: I realized the lacquer cost was huge, making it impossible to produce everyday items. But it’s incredibly durable.

－: Using that much lacquer, it’s no surprise (laughs).

－: Your lacquer work is so diverse; it’s exciting to see.

Hirotomo Doi: If I only did things I knew would succeed, it would get boring. Perfectly even, dust-free lacquerware is wonderful, but that’s not all lacquer is.
So I experiment with everything I can think of. I tend to do unconventional things, so even if I make something unusual, it doesn’t feel out of place (laughs).

－: (laughs)

Hirotomo Doi: In that sense, it’s fun to create freely. No matter how little sleep I get, I do it gladly. I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t burden my mind.

－: That must be why time flies and you don’t feel tired.

Hirotomo Doi: I don’t want to do work mechanically without care. But with Joseon Dynasty plates, no matter how many I make, I don’t feel that way.

－: You also like old objects, don’t you.

Hirotomo Doi: I used to visit many. It’s a world where someone has already discovered and assigned value to things—a world where the appraisal is done.
I still like that, but I want to create in places where that isn’t the case.

－: You also make items related to coffee and green tea.

Hirotomo Doi: I’ve always loved coffee and green tea, and it’s not just because I’m a woodworker, but because the material is suitable.
When you start researching from scratch, you see that everything has a purpose, and that’s enjoyable.

For example, the dripper angle of 60 degrees, or how the groove size and depth affect dripping speed.
Neglecting tools can affect taste. Some things rely solely on appearance, others do not.
For deep-roast coffee, you need to drip slowly. Without that, you can’t make a good cup. Wood is perfect for that.

－: Besides coffee and green tea, do you have other interests?

Hirotomo Doi: I’ve collected various whiskeys.

－: Did you make things related to whiskey as well?

Hirotomo Doi: Now it’s a funny story, but I made sake cups using the same wood as oak barrels, lacquered only on the outside.
The idea was to store whiskey in them and cover them with plastic wrap—essentially aging whiskey in a cup.
Whiskey seeped inside, but the lacquer outside blocked the exit. This caused the lacquer to peel off, and I kept getting repair requests… It troubled me (laughs).

－: We look forward to your exhibition.

Hirotomo Doi: My lacquer work isn’t very traditional. I hope people enjoy the aspects of “this can also be done.”

－: I’m looking forward to it. Thank you.

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