Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

When I was a kid, my allergic reactions to poison ivy, poison oak, etc. were nothing less than dramatic. The active 'ingredient' in urushi is the same as the substance which 80% (est.) of the world's population is allergic to -- urushiol. On a couple of occasions, the rash spread around my eyes and my eyelids got swollen to the point where I actually had to physically peel them back in order to see. (I wish I had a picture of that.)

In both of those cases, I was prescribed steroids which reduced the inflammation quickly. I never heard of any dangers of blindness from getting the urushiol in one's eyes, however.

Zak

Benjamin wrote:

I got some Black finishing Urushi from Mejiro and have just been doing tests on scrap bamboo and was elated at the fact that it had not given me a rash that whole first day when I had been working with it. Washed hands made sure not to touch the stuff, but sure enough I wake up the next morning and it looks like someone gave me the old one/two.  Underneath both my eyes are huge rashes, I must have had some on my fingers and wiped my eyes during that evening or night.  Itches like none other but ill live. However, I came across something online about it causing blindness if it came in contact with the eyes. That I am worried about.  While the possibility of being a blind wandering shakuhachi master is appealing, I would very much like to keep my eyesight for the time being.  I do wonder about the credibility of this website however due to the fact that they also mention that it can cause death in some instances. Aside from Tairaku's tale of monastics enjoying a deep full bowl of freshly steeped Urushi tea for the purpose of self mummification, I don't really see how simply working with the lacquer would cause something so severe. 

in its current state, the rash just resides on the bags under my eyes and not on the actual ball.  I would like very much for this rash to go away though, and was wondering if using the wipes on or near my eyes was advisable?  Any one else has an ocular adventure with the sap?


Ben

Here is what you get when you play with urushi too much !

http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/monk_mummy_3.jpg

http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/monk_mummy_2.jpg

http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/monk_mummy_1.jpg

Jim Thompson wrote:

Gishin wrote:

Here is what you get when you play with urushi too much !

http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/monk_mummy_3.jpg

All dressed up and no place to go.

Appears to be a Lakers fan, too.

Yet another reason to go J
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Tairaku wrote:

Yet another reason to go J
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A reason, yes, but not a particularly

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