Takaoka Copperware
高岡銅器
With a rich history spanning 400 years, Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture remains the production centre for copperware in Japan, with a reputation for advanced casting and decorative techniques in polishing, colouring, engraving and inlay for copper products. Takaoka City’s metal casting industry was established by the second daimyo (feudal lord) of Kaga Domain through the creation of a foundry that manufactured cast-iron tools and utensils. As the demand for copper grew due to its natural resistance to corrosion and malleability in the mid Edo Period (1603-1868), the metalworkers of Takaoka City began producing Buddhist altar fittings and artistic objects from copper.
In the present day the reputation of Takaoka copperware has grown and was acknowledged as one of the first of Japan’s Nationally Designated Traditional Craft Products.
