In the ruins of a historic market, a Japanese artisan looks for his cats

Japanese lacquer artist Kohei Kirimoto takes photos, while searching for his cats, next to an "Asaichi" morning market which burnt down in a quake-triggered fire, in Wajima, Japan, January 4, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

WAJIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Kohei Kirimoto, an 8th-generation lacquerware artisan, walked through the ruins of his century-old workshop in the Japanese coastal town of Wajima on Thursday, concerned only for his missing cats.

The workshop, renowned worldwide for its traditional lacquerware, lay in a smouldering heap following the New Year's Day earthquake and subsequent fire that engulfed it.