Discusses three <irushi</i> techniques which were developed during or prior to the Antique Period (10th-12th centuries): priming, shell inlay, and sprinkled metal powders. Provides a detailed chronology for the use of clay-based priming between wood and * 2urushi*1, discusses the methods and tools used in the Antique Period and earlier periods to prepare shell for inlays, and distinguishes between the grain shapes of metal powders used in Antique Period and those of metal powders used in later periods. -- AATA