What does japanning mean?
Japanning originally referred to a decorative craft: applying a smooth, usually black lacquer to furniture, trays, boxes, and other objects in a manner associated with East Asian lacquerwork. European japanned furniture became especially popular during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the word can still be encountered in auction descriptions, conservation writing, and furniture history. The expression has a second, offensive historical sense. It was used for the practice of darkening one's face, often with paint or theatrical makeup, in racist attempts to imitate Japanese people. That meaning is now recognized as derogatory and is mentioned chiefly when discussing exclusion, entertainment, or racist practices rather than as a neutral description. As a verb form, japanning means applying such black lacquer to an object. Although the word survives in specialist and historical contexts, modern speakers usually prefer clearer terms such as lacquer, varnishing, or black-lacquering when describing the craft.
The craft or process of decorating wood or metal with black lacquer resembling East Asian lacquerwork; formerly and derogatorily, the act of darkening one's face to imitate a Japanese person.
"Museum conservators carefully restored the japanning on the nineteenth-century cabinet."
The decorative sense is historical and specialist; the racial-impersonation sense is strongly derogatory.
The present participle of japan, meaning to decorate an object with black lacquer.
"The artist was japanning a small wooden box in her workshop."
This form is now mainly encountered in descriptions of historical furniture and decorative crafts.
Rare and usually uncountable when referring to the craft as a general process.
"The workshops produced several distinct japannings for the collection."
Japanning survives today in the history of furniture and craft, but it also names a painful history of racist impersonation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does japanning come from?
The word comes from japan, a verb derived from the name Japan. Japan entered English as a name for East Asian lacquerware and was later applied to European-made objects decorated in a similar black-lacquer style. The verb and its participial forms developed from that craft terminology, while the separate sense involving racial impersonation arose from the historical practice of mocking or misrepresenting Japanese appearance.
Related word forms
How japanning is actually used
In its craft sense, the term is historical and chiefly associated with decorative wood and metalwork. Its use for blackface or racial impersonation is strongly derogatory and generally avoided except in historical or critical discussion.
Easily confused with japanning
Japanning names a decorative or discriminatory practice, whereas Japanese describes a person, language, culture, or product connected with Japan.