About Yame Fukushima Butsudan (Yame Buddhist Altar)
Yame Fukushima Butsudan are Buddhist altars produced in Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The largest altar production area in Kyushu, the distinctive 'Fukushima butsudan' style features a black lacquered exterior with brilliant gold leaf and metalwork on the interior. The altar industry developed from the mid-Edo period, and today the production system maintains multiple craftspeople specializing in different roles including shrine carpenters, lacquer painters, maki-e artists, metalwork artisans, and carvers. Built upon the abundant timber of the Chikugo region and rural Buddhist culture, this area is widely recognized as a leading Kyushu altar craft production center where the aesthetic refinement of gold altars and craftsmen's skills are unified.
Techniques & Materials
Craft terms are shown in the original Japanese — these are proper names with no standard English equivalents.
Techniques
Materials
Where to see & buy
Workshop names are in Japanese; links go to their official sites.
- 八女仏壇仏具組合（産地にご確認ください）