The carving is done first, and the red lacquer goes on top of it. Murakami kibori-tsuishu is made by cutting a pattern into the wood and then building up coats of vermilion lacquer over the cut surface, rather than carving into a thickness of lacquer as the name might suggest. Six techniques are practised in the district — tsuishu, tsuikoku, shutame, irourushi, kinmigaki and sansaibori — and they are used for different purposes rather than being alternatives.

The craft is said to have been started around six hundred years ago by a lacquerer who came from Kyoto to work on temple building, and to have been spread through the town by domain retainers some two hundred and seventy years ago. It was recognised as a prefectural cultural property in February 1955 and designated a national traditional craft in February 1976. The workshops are still inside the old castle town, so they can be visited while walking the black-fenced lanes and the townhouses around them.

A finish that does not fill the carving inverts the usual order of effort. Instead of applying lacquer and then levelling it flat, the coats are laid over the relief and allowed to follow it, so each additional layer makes the outline of the pattern more distinct rather than less. Most lacquer work moves steadily toward smoothness, and judges itself by how far it gets. This one moves in the opposite direction, and judges itself by how clearly the cut underneath survives. Murakami station is within walking distance, the town has hospitals and shops, and both the sea and the mountains are a short drive away.