Takuya Tsutsumi was born in 1978. After graduating from the School of Agriculture at Hokkaido University and working in other industries for a time, he joined and succeeded as fourth-generation head of his family business—Tsutsumi Asakichi Urushi, an urushi (lacquer) refinery founded in 1909. The company has developed a proprietary high-dispersion “Korin” urushi, deploying new technologies alongside traditional techniques to deliver forms of lacquer tailored to specific requirements, such as the restoration of important cultural assets and use in traditional crafts. It is also refusing to be limited to traditional uses of the medium, instead exploring possibilities of a more modern nature: from architecture to bicycles (URUSHI x BMX), surfboards (URUSHI x SURF), and skateboards (URUSHI x SKATE). In order to preserve and pass on the techniques and culture of urushi, nurtured with Japan’s environment since ancient times, Asakichi Urushi is working to expand the cultivation of lacquer trees. Tsutsumi is also co-representative of PERSPECTIVE, a non-profit that uses craft to reexamine the relationship between people and nature through residency and educational programs.