The Craftsmen - Everyday Life in Traditional Japan - page 83

avoid official registration until after the end of the Tokugawa period. Another such group
were the tappers of lac ( 49 ) . They obtained from the lacquer tree, which was mainly to be
found in the northern parts of Japan, the raw material that the lacquer workers applied to a
basis of wood or other substance to make utensils, furniture, or other objects. Lac
might be called a natural varnish, which gives a surface of great beauty, and which, be-
ingagoodinsulator,keepsliquidshotwhentheyareservedinit.Therawlacisextractedin
spring and summer, by means of horizontal channels cut in the trunk of the tree; it exudes
into these channels, and is removed by a sort of scraper. It was collected in buckets and
transported in air-proof tubs. The tappers worked for the owners of the trees, and surroun-
ded their craft with an atmosphere of secrecy typical of an age when admission to a trade
was comparable to a privileged initiation into a secret society.
(47) Two mat-makers. The one on the right is busy with the straw that makes up the bulk
of the mat, the other is resting from his labor of covering this with the special grass used
for the purpose. This covering would, in time, wear out but could be replaced.
Yetanothergroupoftravelerswerethe sake- brewers( 50 ) . Thegreatcentersforthepro-
ducingof sake werenearthecoastoftheInlandSeatothewestofOsaka,intownslikeIke-
da, Itami, and Nishinomiya. The process is fundamentally a breaking down of rice-grains
by a fungus, and the production by fermentation of an alcoholic liquid, sake, which was
drunk at all sorts of celebrations and festivities. It was warmed before being served, when