截金
截金（きりかね）とは、極薄の金や銀などの金箔を切り取り、木などの素地（下地）に貼り付けて、微細で複雑な模様を表現する装飾技法である。1981年に重要無形文化財に指定された。
飛鳥時代（552－645）にアジア大陸から渡来した截金は、伝統的に仏像の装飾に使われていた。17世紀から18世紀にかけては、より早く簡単に塗れる金泥の使用に取って代わられた。しかし、京都の2つの寺院がこの技法を守り続け、第二次世界大戦後、宗教以外の美術品に応用され、復活した。
金箔は息を吹きかけると破れてしまうほど繊細なため、截金職人は何枚も金箔を貼り合わせて強度を高めている。このとき、箔は熱せられた灰の上に置かれ、重ね合わされた箔が他の箔と密着するのに十分な熱を持つ。職人はピンセットと、箔がくっつきにくく、静電気を帯びにくい竹製のナイフで重ねた箔を持ち、カットする。箔は髪の毛より細いものもあり、丹念に作品の表面に貼りつけて、デザインや彫刻を装飾する。
石川県出身の西出大造（1913-1995）は截金の技術が評価され、1985年に重要無形文化財の保持者に認定された。
Kirikane
Kirikane is a decorative technique in which extremely thin pieces of metal foil, usually gold or silver, are cut and applied to wood or another substrate (base object) to create minute and intricate patterns. It was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Heritage in 1981.
Kirikane arrived in Japan from mainland Asia during the Asuka period (552–645) and was traditionally used to decorate Buddhist statuary. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, kirikane was largely replaced by the use of gold paint, which was faster and easier to apply. However, a pair of temples in Kyoto kept the technique alive, and it was revived after World War II by artists who applied it to non-religious works of art.
Gold foil is delicate enough to be torn by a stray breath, so kirikane artisans strengthen it by bonding several sheets together. Each sheet is briefly laid on a bed of hot ash, which heats the gold just enough to bond it to the other sheets when they are stacked together and pressed. Artisans hold and cut the layered foil with tweezers and a knife made of bamboo, a material that does not stick to the foil or conduct potentially damaging sparks of static electricity. The gold is cut into strips thinner than a human hair, which are then painstakingly glued to the surface of an object to create designs or embellish carvings.
The Ishikawa-born artist Nishide Daizō (1913–1995) was designated a Holder of Important Cultural Heritage in 1985 for his skill in kirikane.
