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Urushi coloured with pigments or very fine kanshitsu-fun. (“Iro” – colour)
Traditionally, there was only a small number of pigments that could be used with urushi due to chemical reactions between many pigments and urushi. These colours included bengara, shioh (orpiment), sho-en (lamp black) and shu (vermillion). However, with the advent of synthetic pigment manufacture, many other pigments have been created that are compatible with urushi, increasing the colour palette to include once difficult or impossible colors such as light blue, white, purple and more.