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The Art of Urushi Seminar (Washington, DC Fountain Pen SUPERSHOW 2026)
Seminar Logistics
Session Date : Friday 7th August 2026
Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm (2 hours)
Seating Capacity : 20 persons
Venue : Room 4
Instructor
Sophia (Urushi Notes) is a urushi and maki-e artist based in Hong Kong. She began to practice the art of urushi in 2022 on a self guided basis before taking formal maki-e lessons at Maki-e School Ginza under Matsuda Shokan in Tokyo in 2024.
About the Seminar
With over 7000-8000 years of history, the world of urushi is invariably deep and complex, and is an important traditional craft that is still practiced today. Urushi has been applied to fountain pens for 100 years and its popularity is continuing to grow. Much of the information regarding urushi is still difficult to obtain outside of Japan and yet internationally there has been more people interested in learning about this craft.
We welcome you to join us in this seminar where we discuss what it means to work with urushi in current times.
Topics Covered
What is urushi and its artistic & cultural significance
Basic understanding of the primary urushi styles and their history
How to distinguish good quality urushi work
The value of protecting the urushi artform