Hashikura Matsukan

Creating excitement with chopsticks

Matsukan is a chopstick manufacturer based in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, a major producer of lacquered chopsticks that originated from Wakasa lacquerware, and creates excitement through chopsticks.

Obama, the birthplace of lacquered chopsticks

Facing the only ria coast on the Sea of Japan, Obama City in Fukui Prefecture is blessed with an abundance of food ingredients and is also Miketsukuni, which has supported the diet of the Imperial Court since ancient times. Wakasa lacquerware, a traditional craft that has been passed down for about 400 years since the Edo period, was created by depicting the beautiful and fertile seabed of Wakasa Bay.
As times have changed, Wakasa lacquerware has evolved from a luxury item for samurai and merchants into lacquered chopsticks that take advantage of their two characteristics: durability and beautiful appearance. Currently, more than 70% of lacquered chopsticks produced in Japan are produced in Obama, and the chopstick industry has become one of Obama's core industries.

Lacquer and mother-of-pearl WAKASA

The initial impetus for creating Urushi Raden WAKASA was a response to feedback from customers who visited our physical store.

"I want to get some Wakasa lacquer chopsticks with mother-of-pearl inlay, but all I can find are old-fashioned designs... Most of them are too flashy and difficult to use at the dinner table every day. I'd be happy if there were some with a more elegant mother-of-pearl design that I could use without being too fussy."

Knowing that there was a considerable need for such chopsticks, we decided to create new chopsticks that would match the modern dining table while still retaining the traditional Wakasa lacquer and mother-of-pearl designs. These lacquer and mother-of-pearl WAKASA chopsticks were then commercialized.

Lacquer mother-of-pearl WAKASA hexagon 22cm