was a Japanese

maki-e is a Japanese lacquerware, Japanese lacquer decoration technique in which pictures, patterns, and letters are drawn with lacquer on the surface of lacquerware, and then metal powder such as gold or silver is sprinkled and fixed on the surface ...

lacquer artist. He began practicing the art of maki-e lacquerware in Kanazawa in 1945. Shōgyo was named a Living National Treasure of Japan in 1982 for his expertise in maki-e

lacquerware Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Before ...

. Shōgyo was born Ōba Katsuo on March 15, 1916, in Kanazawa City,

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His grandfather had established the family lacquer business. Shōgyo graduated from Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial School, where he studied

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

. Shōgyo then became an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

of Matsuda Gonroku in Tokyo. He especially skilled in the technique of hyōmon, in which pieces of gold or silver cut lead are attached to decorative objects, often to round objects, such as vases, which can be difficult to apply this technique. Shogyo restored the

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and lacquer decorations of Chūson-ji Konjiki-dō. a 10th-century Buddhist temple in

Hiraizumi, Iwate is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,408 and a population density of in 2,616 households. The total area of the town was . It is noted for the Historic Monuments and Si ...

, in 1964. Shōgyo Ōba died on June 21, 2012, at the age of 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oba, Shogyo 1916 births 2012 deaths Artists from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Living National Treasures of Japan Japanese lacquerware artists Urushi artists