****While working on this publication an earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula and Wajima City on the first of January 2024. Fire and destruction followed. In September of the same year, Ishikawa was hit by heavy rain provoked floods and landslide. This book is dedicated to our friends and the wish they can return safely to their lives and works.

More than ten years ago, we watched «Maboroshi», a Japanese movie by Kore-eda Hirokazu and were hypnotised by Wajima and the Noto region in Japan. A few years later we visited an exhibition of lacquerware in the Japanese Embassy in London. The works were made in collaboration with crafts(wo)men in Wajima. We spoke to Emiko, the curator, who would eventually introduce us to a group of skilled artisans in Wajima, specialised for centuries in producing urushi ware locally. This book is the visible part of the iceberg, how we went to live for a while in Wajima and how we caught the ears of highly skilled people who eventually agreed to try something amateurs like us suggested.