What makes Urushi so compelling today?
7 October 2026 – 12:00–14:00 – Private lower-ground-floor space, Roketsu, Marylebone
£120 per person – lunch, a glass of sake and a gift to take home
WAJOY is a Kanazawa-based platform connecting Japanese craft to the world. WAJOY Salon — Volume One is a lunch salon at Roketsu.
This time, the theme is reframing urushi — Japanese lacquer — not as a traditional craft, but within today’s international contemporary art and design context. Over two hours, you’ll hold the work of three Ishikawa-based lacquer artists in your hands rather than viewing it through glass, while talking with TF Chan, Fair Director of Collect and former editor of Wallpaper*.
Featured Artists
Ken Noguchi
Using cotton thread and lacquer, Noguchi creates light, unconventional forms that overturn expectations of what lacquer can be — the kind of work that makes you ask, “is this really lacquer?”
Yuki Nakamura
Layering paper, eggshell, shell and gold leaf with lacquer, her distinctive technique has drawn attention from architects and designers.
Junichi Hakose
Bringing Wajima’s maki-e and raden techniques into the present, with over twenty years of collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels.
About TF Chan
Fair Director of Collect, the international fair for contemporary craft and design held at Somerset House, and a former editor of Wallpaper*. Sharing one table with just ten guests allows for the kind of personal, in-depth conversation a larger event can’t — a rare chance to hear how a leading fair director and former magazine editor sees the value in craft, and to think again about your own.
What your £120 includes
• Lunch at Roketsu, with a glass of sake
• A rare, up-close opportunity to hold and view work by three Ishikawa lacquer artists
• An intimate conversation with Collect Fair Director TF Chan, possible only in a small group
• A lacquer gift to take home
This isn’t just lunch. It’s a chance to view the art while talking with someone who has shaped its world — in a room limited to just ten people.
Limited to ten guests, first come, first served.
About WAJOY
Based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, WAJOY is a platform connecting Japanese craftsmanship with international art and design. It shares both inherited techniques and the spirit of the people and places behind them.
Founder Mayumi Tachikawa grew up in a family of gold leaf artisans in Kanazawa. She built the cosmetics brand Makanai Cosme to around 20 stores in Japan and expanded it to London and Paris. After nearly 20 years of sharing Japanese materials and aesthetics at home and abroad, she founded WAJOY to bring Japanese craftsmanship and the stories behind it to the world.