The Japan Society is delighted to partner with Circle of Japanese Art London to host a zoom lecture by Masami Yamada, Curator in the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

On 1st January 2024, at 16:10, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula. The earthquake caused significant damage to the region's rich cultural heritage, particularly in the city of Wajima, renowned for lacquerware. Many of the local lacquer studios and businesses were reduced to rubble by the quake and subsequent fire. The recovery process is expected to take years. This lecture will discuss the long-term effects of the recent disaster on Japan's lacquer industry and the future of Wajima lacquerware.

Masami Yamada is a Curator in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Asia Department. She has particular responsibility for the collections of Japanese lacquerware, netsuke, ukiyo-e woodblock prints and contemporary craft. Her current area of research is contemporary craft, particularly the work of urushi lacquer artists. In 2022, she received the Sir Nicholas Goodison Award for Contemporary Craft from the Art Fund to further develop the Museum’s internationally renowned Japanese lacquer collection.

Images: Left: Kado Isaburo, lacquer tray, Wajima, Japan, 1985 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Right:©Taka Teiren

If you have any questions, please call the Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email us at: events@japansociety.org.uk.

In Partnership with: Circle of Japanese Art London.