How a retired engineer mastered an ancient Japanese art to keep it alive

Here, his engineering background would prove helpful, as understanding 3D drawings, dimensions, and designs came naturally to him. Yet Kulkarni had no interest in manufacturing ordinary fountain pens. “I wanted to make something distinctive, with a unique selling point that would set my work apart.”

This craftsmanship, that he started to learn from scratch in 2018-19, sparked Vivek Kulkarni’s fusion of Urushi and fountain pens.

Vivek Kulkarni is a retired production engineer and IT professional in Pune.

Learning without a master

But more daunting would be the isolation of this pursuit. He would be learning an art form with no master to teach, no guidebooks in English, and a supply chain dependent on materials from Japan. Kulkarni’s family too expressed scepticism over practical concerns. “There was some hesitation. They were also doubtful about sales and earnings since the usage of fountain pens was declining,” shares Kulkarni.

When he attempted to begin learning, the Urushi artwork in 2014-15, he started from zero, approaching an ancient craft in a country unknown to the Urushi tradition. What followed was a six-year education conducted entirely through trial, error, and reverse engineering.

Kulkarni says, “I would study photographs of Danitrio pens (a popular Japanese brand) and attempt to decipher technique from images alone.”

He hired an artist and together they learned by doing, by failing, by adjusting minute details, and by self-learning. All the books on it were also in Japanese. The price of this self-taught education was tons of wasted materials, and countless hours monitoring environmental conditions.

When mastery finally arrived

By 2021, however, Kulkarni realised, “I could compete with other pen manufacturers in India because I had something unique to offer.” The business, called Urushi Studio India, gained momentum.

His pens, adorned with intricate Urushi artwork, could undercut Japanese competitors by 25 to 30 per cent while maintaining superior quality. When he began posting photographs to Facebook and Instagram, orders arrived from across continents.

Kulkarni’s Urushi Studio India has achieved a commercial success.

“We received a great response from Europe, America, and Asian countries,” he notes. Lawyers, doctors, engineers, and pen collectors form a lion’s share of his customer base. Today, having completed approximately 400 to 500 pens, Kulkarni is set to build a complete pen house. He is currently developing his own patented ink, called Niji, named after the Japanese word for ‘rainbow’. These ink bottles are designed to look like pen nibs.

Yet, beneath the commercial success of Kulkarni’s Urushi Studio India, he highlights the issue of Urushi’s approaching extinction in not just India but also in its homeland.

“Young people in Japan aren’t as interested in learning it. Most artists there are older.” This has motivated Kulkarni to establish an institute in India, which will be devoted to the teaching of Urushi artwork, making it one of its kind in India.

He explains, “If local artists used this lacquer for their art, it would increase the longevity and value of their work. For example, a Warli art piece that sells for Rs 5,000 could sell for Rs 50,000 if done with Urushi.”
The art would survive not just in Japan but would find new expression through Indian artistic traditions. This institution represents cultural preservation.

“My efficiency will decrease with age,” he says honestly. “If more people learn it, the art will be sustained. I want to save others the struggle, I went through to learn this on my own. I want this knowledge to be easily available. It’s not a commercial venture for me, it’s about giving back to society.”