During the Kanei era in the early Edo period, a wealthy Obama merchant, Kumiya Rokurozaemon, presented a lacquered tray he had acquired from overseas to the feudal lord Sakai Tadakatsu. It is said that feudal lord Matsuura Sanjuro (Yohei) then created a pattern of the ocean floor of Obama Bay and invented the "Kikujin-nuri" lacquerware based on Chinese lacquerware methods. After the pattern is created using materials such as eggshells, seashells, and pine needles, more than a dozen layers of lacquer are carefully applied. The lacquer is then polished with stones or charcoal. Chopsticks made using Wakasa-nuri techniques are famous and account for more than 80% of Japan's lacquered chopsticks.