National Crafts Museum

This guide to the National Crafts Museum in Kanazawa centers on Matsuda Gonroku, born here in 1896, who spent sixty years chasing a single shade of gold by taking apart ancient lacquerware pulled from Han-dynasty tombs and a temple's Golden Hall. You'll hear how his relentless research earned him recognition as a Living National Treasure for the technique of maki-e, sprinkling gold and silver powder into wet lacquer, and see his workbench rebuilt upstairs exactly as he left it, drawers of sketches and all. Along the way the guide follows the student he trained, who would go on to earn the same honor himself. Look for the humidity-controlled drying cabinet he had built to his own exact specifications.