A research presentation by ARAI Teppei (2nd-year pre-doctoral student, HONDA Takayuki Laboratory) in the Applied Chemistry Program at the Graduate School of Science and Technology won the Poster Award at the 42nd J.S.S.S.C.P Congress 2025 Kyushu University (organized by the Japan Society for Scientific Studies on Cultural Properties).
Winner: ARAI Teppei (2nd-year pre-doctoral student, HONDA Takayuki Laboratory)
Award name: The Poster Award
Conference name: The 42nd J.S.S.S.C.P Congress 2025 Kyushu University
Dates: July 5 to 6, 2025
Presentation title: Scientific analysis and reproduction of hereditary materials using tung oil and pig’s blood
Research content: It had been thought that shokendai (book stands), whose exterior was colored in bright red and decorated with chinkin (a technique of engraving a painted surface and embedding gold powder in the engraving) or hakue (a technique in which gold leaf is cut and pasted into the shape of a picture), were made by applying shu-urushi (red lacquer), a type of lacquer liquid to which mercury-red (mercury sulfide) was added. However, two cases where lacquer was not used were found through chemical analysis.
Award name: The Poster Award
Conference name: The 42nd J.S.S.S.C.P Congress 2025 Kyushu University
Dates: July 5 to 6, 2025
Presentation title: Scientific analysis and reproduction of hereditary materials using tung oil and pig’s blood
Research content: It had been thought that shokendai (book stands), whose exterior was colored in bright red and decorated with chinkin (a technique of engraving a painted surface and embedding gold powder in the engraving) or hakue (a technique in which gold leaf is cut and pasted into the shape of a picture), were made by applying shu-urushi (red lacquer), a type of lacquer liquid to which mercury-red (mercury sulfide) was added. However, two cases where lacquer was not used were found through chemical analysis.
The authors presented their attempt to reproduce a red coating that did not use lacquer by using tung oil and pig’s blood based on the results of its analysis, which was the first successful case. Although it had been believed that applying engraving, such as chinkin, on coatings using tung oil was difficult, they succeeded in creating a coating that enables engraving by adjusting the amounts of mercury-red and other substances to be added.
Their attempt was highly evaluated because they accomplished the reproduction of a manufacturing technique of the past, which was challenging research, by examination precisely based on analysis results.
