Kirikane

What it is

Kirikane is a way of decorating surfaces with metal leaf. The leaf may be gold, silver or platinum, and it is cut into lines, diamonds and triangles before it is glued to the object. The technique was developed for Buddhist statues and paintings, so it belongs with religious art rather than with everyday decoration. The record gives material and method rather than a meaning behind the shapes. Both the cutting and the fixing are done by hand, and the work is exact because every piece is small and separate.

From China to Japan

Kirikane was imported from China while the Tang dynasty ruled, between 618 and 907. The oldest surviving example is the Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji. The craft was busiest in the eleventh century and continued into the thirteenth or fourteenth century. After that it almost died out: the overall decline of Buddhist art removed the work it depended on. It is still practised today, and Eri Sayoko has been named a Living National Treasure for kirikane.

Cutting and fixing

Two pieces of leaf are heated over a fire banked with ash and bonded into one sheet. A second bonding strengthens the sheet and makes it thicker, so it can be handled and cut. The artisan then cuts it with a bamboo knife on a table covered with deer skin. The cut pieces are fixed to the object being decorated with glue. Two traditional glues appear in the record: funori, which comes from seaweed, and nikawa, which comes from hide. Each line, diamond or triangle is placed separately, so a finished surface is made of many small pieces of metal leaf.

What it decorated

Kirikane was made for Buddhist statues and paintings rather than for everyday objects. It gave those surfaces patterns of cut metal leaf, and it belonged to the world of temples and Buddhist image-making. When Buddhist art declined, the craft nearly disappeared with it. That is the reason the record gives. The sources do not explain what the patterns stood for, and they do not describe kirikane as a ritual or a teaching. It is a way of adorning a sacred image, and its fortune rose and fell with the art it served.

How Kirikane is kept

One artisan works at a time. Two pieces of metal leaf, gold, silver or platinum, are heated over a fire banked with ash until they bond. A second bonding adds strength and thickness. The bonded sheet is then cut into lines, diamonds and triangles with a bamboo knife, on a table covered with deer skin. Each cut piece is fixed to a statue or painting with glue, either funori from seaweed or nikawa from hide. The pieces are affixed to the object being decorated. The work is done by hand and takes patience, since the leaf is thin and fragile.

When and where

Kirikane is kept in Japan, where it is described as a Japanese decorative technique. The oldest surviving example is the Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji. Its use is tied to Buddhist statues and paintings, so it belongs to the world of temple and Buddhist art rather than to everyday decoration. The technique came originally from China during the Tang dynasty.

What Kirikane means

The sources describe kirikane as a decorative technique, not as a set of teachings or a ritual with a meaning to explain. Its purpose was to adorn Buddhist statues and paintings. That link is the clearest thing that can be said about what it stood for: the craft served Buddhist art, flourished while that art flourished, and nearly disappeared when that art declined. The bright leaf was there to decorate a sacred image, and the craft's fortunes were tied to that work.

Questions people ask about Kirikane

See also

IkatA resist-dyeing craft from Southeast Asia, where yarns are tied and dyed before weavingChinese knottingA folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsBonsaiA Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCeladonGreen-glazed pottery first made in China, valued for colours that echo jade

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Kirikane on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-10.