Japanese carpentry
Encyclopedia
Japanese carpentry is distinguished by its advanced
joinery
and its finely-planed wood surfaces.
s, defined by a vocabulary of tools and joints and a methodology of working, a carpenter will typically identify with one of four distinct carpentry professions. Miyadaiku 宮大工 practice the construction of Japanese shrines and temples, and are renowned for their use of elaborate wooden joints and the fact that the buildings they construct are frequently found among the world's longest surviving wooden structures. Teahouse and residential carpenters, known as sukiya-daiku 数奇屋大工, are famed for their delicate aesthetic constructions using rustic materials. Furniture makers are known as sashimono-shi 指し物師, and interior finishing carpenters, who build shōji
障子 and ranma 欄間, are termed tateguya 建具屋.
Though it is rare to find a sashimono-shi or tateguya practicing outside of their field, it is not uncommon for a carpentry workshop to work simultaneously as both miyadaiku and sukiyadaiku.
Japanese saw
(nokogiri 鋸), which cuts on the pull stroke, rather than the European style push stroke. This allows the blades to be quite thin in comparison to the Western saw. There are two main kinds of cutting teeth on Japanese saws: rip (yoko noko-giri)and crosscut (tate-noko-giri). The rip and crosscut are combined in one blade, known as a ryoba (lit. "dual edge":; 両刃). The rip and crosscut patterns are also made in single-edged saws, kataha nokogiri 片刃, both with stiffening back pieces and without. The stiff-backed saws, known as douzuki （lit. "with guide"; 導付き) are typically used in cutting fine joinery. There are many other types of Japanese saws as well: osae-biki 押さえ引き鋸 (lit. "press-cut saw"), used for flush-cutting pegs to a surface without marring the surface. The saw teeth have no set to one or both sides to accomplish this feat. There is the azebiki (lit. ridge saw; 畔挽き), which has cutting both rip and crosscut teeth, and is short and rounded in profile. It is used for sawing in confined areas and starting cuts in the middle of surfaces. There are many other types and sub-types of saw. Most saws sold in the West are mass produced items with induction-hardened teeth and relatively cheap replaceable blades. The handmade forged saws are very laborious to make and involve more manufacturing steps in the forging to complete than planes of chisels.
Japanese plane
(kanna 鉋), is most commonly a wooden block, or dai (台) containing a laminated blade, sub-blade, and securing pin. This is similar in respects to the archaic type of European wooden plane, in which the blade is fixed in place by tapping down upon a wooden wedge. In the Japanese plane, the blade is fixed in position primarily by the confines of the plane's throat opening. Unlike a western plane, the support bed for the blade is not a flat surface in a Japanese plane - rather it is convex. The blade itself is tapered both in thickness and in width so as to wedge tightly into the dai when tapped down into place. Japanese planes are operated by pulling rather than pushing, and much work is done in the seated position or alongside a planing beam.
Considered part of the kanna family, the yarigana is an archaic type of Japanese plane resembling a spear. The yarigana is a single piece of steel with one end being used as a handle and the other forged into a leaf shaped blade. The carpenter holds the yarigana with two hands, perpendicular to his arms, and pulls towards his body producing a concave gouge in the timber. The yarigana was in universal use prior to the introduction of the block-mounted wood plane to Japan, and is today typically reserved for use on large circular columns or in cases where a more rustic appearance is desired in the final element.
Japanese chisel
(nomi 鑿). These come in a larger variety of types and gradations than the Western chisel. There are bench chisels, paring chisels, striking chisels, heavy timber chisels and slicks, and a myriad others for specialized applications. Like the planes, the blades are of laminated hard steel/soft steel construction. Bevel angle varies from 20˚ to 35˚ typically, with mortising and heavy chisels featuring steep angles, and paring chisels having shallower angles. It is common in Japan to work with softwoods, so many chisels are made with that in mind, and require the bevels be steepened if employed for harder woods.
Japanese gimlet (kiri 錐). The kiri is used for boring circular holes in a timber, often as the first stage in the hollowing out of a mortise. Though seemingly simple to use, the kiri is commonly considered one of the most difficult tools to master.
Japanese axe and adze (ono
斧 and chōna 釿).
Japanese hammer (tsuchi 槌).
Tools for measuring and marking include the inkpot (sumitsubo 墨壺), bamboo pen (sumisashi 墨さし), carpenter's square (sashigane 差し金), and the traditional marking gauge (kebiki 罫引), among others.
The blades of both planes and chisels are distinguished by the hollow, ura in their flat side. This hollow portion has a number of functions. The primary function is that it ensures a high degree of flatness when sharpening, in that when the flat side is polished it cannot rock or develop a curve because it is only contacting the stone on either side of its width. This then improves the precision with which cuts can be made by the chisel, and in the case of planes ensures smooth contact with the wedge and therefore even support across the full width of its blade. The hollow also greatly reduces the amount of metal needed to be removed to achieve flatness on the back of the blade, which shortens initial set-up and subsequent re-sharpening considerably. Secondly, in the case of chisels, it reduces the frictional resistance as the chisel is driven into or extracted from the wood. Thirdly, the interaction of the leading edge of the hollow with the edge of the blade is a changing relationship as the tool is re-sharpened. With plane blades, as the edge is sharpened down to the rim of the hollow, the edge can then be 'tapped-out' (ura-dashi), a process where a pointed hammer is used to depress the ha-gane downward slightly along the bevel of the blade. When the blade's back is re-flattened after ura-dashi, the hollow is re-established; thus the hollow acts as a sort of gauge for sharpening as a means of prolonging the life of the thin piece of cutting steel as long as possible. This in turn tends to keep the geometry of the blade consistent over time,which keeps it fitting the dai over time.
There are many types of steel used for the ha-gane of Japanese planes and chisels:
-White steel, shiro-gane; a nearly pure steel that takes a very keen edge and resharpens easily. There are several types of white steel, #1 and #2 being the most common.
-Blue Steel, ao-gane; a steel with alloyed elements such as molybdenum to enhance the durability of the edge. This steel is a little more difficult to sharpen than the white, and does not take quite as keen an edge, but is more durable in use. The common blue steels used are #1, #2, and "Super-Blue"
-Tama-hagane; this steel derives from the smelting of a special iron-rich river sand and is normally reserved for use in sword-making, however some does find use in saws, chisels and planes.
-Togo-Reigo: this steel was produced by the Andrews Company of Sheffield England in the 1920's and some found its way to Japan where it has been used for making plane blades
-Swedish Steel
The traditional Japanese vise was a wedge of wood tied to a post with a coil of rope. The wood was inserted under the wedge and the wedge hammered down.
Vises of any sort are used far less in traditional Japanese carpentry than would be the case for equivalent tasks in the traditional crafts of the West. Many tasks in Japanese carpentry associated with building, involve very large pieces of timber, and in general the weight of the timber and of the carpenter are used to stabilize the piece on which the carpenter is working. For this reason the carpenter's horses used in Japan are much lower than their Western counterparts, and carpenters must always position themselves over their work.
Much of the work on smaller pieces of material can be done in the seated position, and relies on the fact that the saws and planes both cut on the pull stroke, enabling stabilization of the work using the body or shooting board.
Articulation (architecture)
Articulation, in art and architecture, is a method of styling the joints in the formal elements of architectural design. Through degrees of articulation, each part is united with the whole work by means of a joint in such a way that the joined parts are put together in styles ranging from...
joinery
Woodworking joints
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining together pieces of wood, to create furniture, structures, toys, and other items. Some wood joints employ fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements. The characteristics of wooden joints - strength, flexibility,...
and its finely-planed wood surfaces.
Schools of Carpentry
Though there is a core practice shared by all Japanese carpenterCarpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s, defined by a vocabulary of tools and joints and a methodology of working, a carpenter will typically identify with one of four distinct carpentry professions. Miyadaiku 宮大工 practice the construction of Japanese shrines and temples, and are renowned for their use of elaborate wooden joints and the fact that the buildings they construct are frequently found among the world's longest surviving wooden structures. Teahouse and residential carpenters, known as sukiya-daiku 数奇屋大工, are famed for their delicate aesthetic constructions using rustic materials. Furniture makers are known as sashimono-shi 指し物師, and interior finishing carpenters, who build shōji
Shoji
In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...
障子 and ranma 欄間, are termed tateguya 建具屋.
Though it is rare to find a sashimono-shi or tateguya practicing outside of their field, it is not uncommon for a carpentry workshop to work simultaneously as both miyadaiku and sukiyadaiku.
Tools
The tools commonly used by Japanese carpenters are divided into a few basic families, within which there are found a multitude of variations and specializations geared toward particular tasks:Japanese saw
Japanese saw
The Japanese saw or ' is a type of saw used in woodworking and Japanese carpentry that cuts on the pull stroke, unlike the European saw that cuts on the push stroke. This allows it to have thinner blades that cut more efficiently and leave a narrower cut width...
(nokogiri 鋸), which cuts on the pull stroke, rather than the European style push stroke. This allows the blades to be quite thin in comparison to the Western saw. There are two main kinds of cutting teeth on Japanese saws: rip (yoko noko-giri)and crosscut (tate-noko-giri). The rip and crosscut are combined in one blade, known as a ryoba (lit. "dual edge":; 両刃). The rip and crosscut patterns are also made in single-edged saws, kataha nokogiri 片刃, both with stiffening back pieces and without. The stiff-backed saws, known as douzuki （lit. "with guide"; 導付き) are typically used in cutting fine joinery. There are many other types of Japanese saws as well: osae-biki 押さえ引き鋸 (lit. "press-cut saw"), used for flush-cutting pegs to a surface without marring the surface. The saw teeth have no set to one or both sides to accomplish this feat. There is the azebiki (lit. ridge saw; 畔挽き), which has cutting both rip and crosscut teeth, and is short and rounded in profile. It is used for sawing in confined areas and starting cuts in the middle of surfaces. There are many other types and sub-types of saw. Most saws sold in the West are mass produced items with induction-hardened teeth and relatively cheap replaceable blades. The handmade forged saws are very laborious to make and involve more manufacturing steps in the forging to complete than planes of chisels.
Japanese plane
Japanese plane
The Japanese plane or ' is a plane pulled towards the user rather than pushed in the manner of western style planes. They are made of hardwood , usually japanese white or red oak. The laminated steel and iron blade is stout compared to western planes...
(kanna 鉋), is most commonly a wooden block, or dai (台) containing a laminated blade, sub-blade, and securing pin. This is similar in respects to the archaic type of European wooden plane, in which the blade is fixed in place by tapping down upon a wooden wedge. In the Japanese plane, the blade is fixed in position primarily by the confines of the plane's throat opening. Unlike a western plane, the support bed for the blade is not a flat surface in a Japanese plane - rather it is convex. The blade itself is tapered both in thickness and in width so as to wedge tightly into the dai when tapped down into place. Japanese planes are operated by pulling rather than pushing, and much work is done in the seated position or alongside a planing beam.
Considered part of the kanna family, the yarigana is an archaic type of Japanese plane resembling a spear. The yarigana is a single piece of steel with one end being used as a handle and the other forged into a leaf shaped blade. The carpenter holds the yarigana with two hands, perpendicular to his arms, and pulls towards his body producing a concave gouge in the timber. The yarigana was in universal use prior to the introduction of the block-mounted wood plane to Japan, and is today typically reserved for use on large circular columns or in cases where a more rustic appearance is desired in the final element.
Japanese chisel
Japanese chisel
The Japanese chisel or ' is made on similar principles to the Japanese plane. There is a hard blade, called hagane attached to a softer piece of metal called the jigane.- Types:* The ' is the most usual type of Japanese chisel...
(nomi 鑿). These come in a larger variety of types and gradations than the Western chisel. There are bench chisels, paring chisels, striking chisels, heavy timber chisels and slicks, and a myriad others for specialized applications. Like the planes, the blades are of laminated hard steel/soft steel construction. Bevel angle varies from 20˚ to 35˚ typically, with mortising and heavy chisels featuring steep angles, and paring chisels having shallower angles. It is common in Japan to work with softwoods, so many chisels are made with that in mind, and require the bevels be steepened if employed for harder woods.
Japanese gimlet (kiri 錐). The kiri is used for boring circular holes in a timber, often as the first stage in the hollowing out of a mortise. Though seemingly simple to use, the kiri is commonly considered one of the most difficult tools to master.
Japanese axe and adze (ono
Ono (weapon)
is the Japanese word for an "axe" or a "hatchet", and is used to describe various tools of similar structure. As with axes in other cultures, ono are sometimes employed as weapons. The few existing academic references and documented examples of this particular weapon are in connection with the...
斧 and chōna 釿).
Japanese hammer (tsuchi 槌).
Tools for measuring and marking include the inkpot (sumitsubo 墨壺), bamboo pen (sumisashi 墨さし), carpenter's square (sashigane 差し金), and the traditional marking gauge (kebiki 罫引), among others.
Blades
Though a carpenter will typically fashion handles and woodblocks and set and sharpen his blades himself, the blades themselves are forged by steel smiths and provided unmounted to the carpenter. Japanese steel has long enjoyed a high level of refinement, without which the fine surfaces and detail for which Japanese woodwork is renowned would not be possible. The blades used in the Japanese chisel and the Japanese plane shares similar constructive principles to the Japanese sword. A thin piece of extremely hard blade metal called ha-gane 鋼 (lit. "edge metal") is forge-welded to a softer piece of metal called ji-gane (lit. "base metal" 地金). The function of the softer base metal is to absorb shock, and to protect the more brittle ha-gane from breaking. This technology allows for the use of steels in the hagane which are harder than in use in Western chisels, typically Rockwell 62 and up, and also allows for the honing of a much finer edge than is typically known in carpentry outside of Japan. When sharpening a blade, a Japanese carpenter will typically use three or more whetstones of varying coarseness, progressing from the roughest stone to the finest.The blades of both planes and chisels are distinguished by the hollow, ura in their flat side. This hollow portion has a number of functions. The primary function is that it ensures a high degree of flatness when sharpening, in that when the flat side is polished it cannot rock or develop a curve because it is only contacting the stone on either side of its width. This then improves the precision with which cuts can be made by the chisel, and in the case of planes ensures smooth contact with the wedge and therefore even support across the full width of its blade. The hollow also greatly reduces the amount of metal needed to be removed to achieve flatness on the back of the blade, which shortens initial set-up and subsequent re-sharpening considerably. Secondly, in the case of chisels, it reduces the frictional resistance as the chisel is driven into or extracted from the wood. Thirdly, the interaction of the leading edge of the hollow with the edge of the blade is a changing relationship as the tool is re-sharpened. With plane blades, as the edge is sharpened down to the rim of the hollow, the edge can then be 'tapped-out' (ura-dashi), a process where a pointed hammer is used to depress the ha-gane downward slightly along the bevel of the blade. When the blade's back is re-flattened after ura-dashi, the hollow is re-established; thus the hollow acts as a sort of gauge for sharpening as a means of prolonging the life of the thin piece of cutting steel as long as possible. This in turn tends to keep the geometry of the blade consistent over time,which keeps it fitting the dai over time.
There are many types of steel used for the ha-gane of Japanese planes and chisels:
-White steel, shiro-gane; a nearly pure steel that takes a very keen edge and resharpens easily. There are several types of white steel, #1 and #2 being the most common.
-Blue Steel, ao-gane; a steel with alloyed elements such as molybdenum to enhance the durability of the edge. This steel is a little more difficult to sharpen than the white, and does not take quite as keen an edge, but is more durable in use. The common blue steels used are #1, #2, and "Super-Blue"
-Tama-hagane; this steel derives from the smelting of a special iron-rich river sand and is normally reserved for use in sword-making, however some does find use in saws, chisels and planes.
-Togo-Reigo: this steel was produced by the Andrews Company of Sheffield England in the 1920's and some found its way to Japan where it has been used for making plane blades
-Swedish Steel
Vise
Vises of any sort are used far less in traditional Japanese carpentry than would be the case for equivalent tasks in the traditional crafts of the West. Many tasks in Japanese carpentry associated with building, involve very large pieces of timber, and in general the weight of the timber and of the carpenter are used to stabilize the piece on which the carpenter is working. For this reason the carpenter's horses used in Japan are much lower than their Western counterparts, and carpenters must always position themselves over their work.
Much of the work on smaller pieces of material can be done in the seated position, and relies on the fact that the saws and planes both cut on the pull stroke, enabling stabilization of the work using the body or shooting board.
See also
- Japanese architectureJapanese architecture' originated in prehistoric times with simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers....
- Japanese handicraftsJapanese handicraftsThe many and varied traditional handicrafts of Japan are officially recognised and protected and, owing to the folk art movement, are much in demand. Some enjoy status as a meibutsu or regional specialty. Each craft demands a set of specialized skills...
- Housing in JapanHousing in JapanHousing in Japan includes modern and traditional styles. Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Japan: the single-family detached house and the multiple-unit building, either owned by an individual or corporation and rented as apartments to tenants, or owned by occupants...
discusses traditional and modern houses and their building materials.
External links
- Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum in KobeKobe, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
. Contains extensive material on the history of Japanese carpentry and carpentry tools, and directions for visiting the museum.