Takumi: The Height of Craft

Episode 6: Traditional Japanese Lacquer - Makino Urushi Design -

02.27.2026

Makino Urushi Design is a Kyoto-based lacquer workshop with a history spanning more than a century. Since its founding, the workshop has engaged in the restoration of cultural properties, including temples and shrines, while preserving and extending the traditions of Japanese lacquer craftsmanship.

In this episode, we present a dialogue between Kouta Makino, the fourth-generation head of Makino Urushi Design, and an engineer from Kyocera involved in the development and manufacturing of ceramic capacitors for electronic circuits.

Though they work in seemingly different fields — traditional Japanese lacquer craftsmanship and advanced electronic component engineering — the spirit of craftsmanship resonates across disciplines, revealing a shared dedication to creating things that endure.

Kouta Makino

MAKINO URUSHI DESIGN
4th generation craftsman

Kouta Makino is the fourth-generation head of Makino Urushi Design, a Kyoto-based lacquer workshop with a history spanning more than a century. Since its founding, the workshop has preserved and extended the traditions of Japanese lacquer craftsmanship, while engaging in the restoration of cultural properties, including temples and shrines. As the fourth-generation head, Kouta Makino carries on this legacy while reexamining the potential of lacquer beyond conventional boundaries to uncover new value within tradition. Today, alongside cultural heritage restoration, he is also involved in collaborations with designers and international projects, aiming to pass on the beauty and potential of traditional Japanese lacquer to the next generation and share it with the world.

Satoru Naokawa

KYOCERA Corporation
Electronic Components Development Engineer

Satoru Naokawa joined Kyocera in 2007. Since then, he has been dedicated to the research and development of ceramic capacitors, pursuing technological innovation to meet increasingly diverse and sophisticated customer demands. By pursuing unique technologies unbound by conventional thinking, he has played a leading role in developing electronic components used across a broad spectrum of products — from smartphones and wearable devices to automobiles and industrial equipment — thereby advancing modern electronics.