Japanese temple carpentry?

[ian maybury]

My son sent this video which i think is possibly of a temple carpentry style 'no nail' joint in a large beam being assembled - the precision over a joint of this size is to say the least impressive: http://imgur.com/gallery/jCDDxbN

[Daniel Rode]

Amazing craftsmanship. That video made the rounds here a couple years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1pvUlQgYtk

More by the same people

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM2hShzsbswKVSJP3se3X2Q

[Dave Beauchesne]

The stone work at the old Temples is no less spectacular.

You can still see the ' feather and iron ' evidence that split the stones to size before they were finished, which resulted in these long, high angled slopes that were very smooth to prevent marauding intruders from gaining access to the wooden structured castles.

But, flaming arrow technology was the next technology that put a fly in the ointment. At least that was how it was explained to me on my couple trips over there.

Exceptional joinery by the Japanese to be sure.

Dave B

[Joe Tilson]

While in Japan in the sixty's, we got a chance to watch the workers prepare some of this work, while using the woodworking shop at Johnson Housing Area north of Yokota AB. We just stood there with our mouths hung open and watched how precisely this work was done, and how fast it was done.

Thanks, Ian for the memories.

[ian maybury]

Ta guys, it seemed interesting. I didn't know it had been put up before. That must have been dead interesting Joe, my impression is that you perhaps caught the tail end of a tradition that by now is less common in its native state. It's for that reason great to see conservation work on monasteries and other traditional structures that appears to be happening in the video under way - it's perhaps a means of keeping these skills alive.

The bit that really catches my attention is just how effective the (i think often Zen Buddhist inspired) principle of sorting out a truly optimised technique, and then practicing it repeatedly until it's been so deeply learned at the body level that the mind plays no real part in it actually is. Trouble is it requires a discipline we're not typically/culturally oriented towards in the West - we're always too busy thinking we're not being paid enough, or trying to big up what's actually sub standard, or chasing the next bauble to do so. It also requires a societal structure and value system that permits people to dedicate themselves in that way and still make a living.

It comes up in the context of the blacksmithing of traditional tools, many of the tradtional Japanese woodworking crafts like box and comb making, martial arts, calligraphy, meditation, sports training (the 'no mind' perspective has been adopted by top sports coaches all over the place) etc - you name it. Anything that requires precise physical co-ordination. With a bit of luck this stuff won't be lost, it'll hang around long enough for a new wave to discover it....

[Keith Mathewson]

Years ago I worked with a guy who did a 5 year apprenticeship in temple building. The mindset was indeed different, he worked for next to nothing and at the end of it he was given a set of very high quality chisels. So he earned about 2 chisels a year.... He told me that early on he was remanded for planing off the layout marks on the beams after they were fitted. He was told to leave them there so that the next generation could see how it was done.

Although he was at retirement age at the time he was still very efficient. He said that all temple carpenters were just assumed to be competent and that you were judged on speed.

[Joe Tilson]

Wow, I didn't know that was why they left the layout marks. Makes sense.
I saw an old mallet at a flea market the other day that had all the layout marks
to a proper build, then the person just drilled a round hole in it and stuck in the handle,
and of course it was loose.
What a shame!

[Brian Holcombe]

The layout is an art in and of itself, it's my understanding that many of the carpenters who do traditional work will even grind their own ink.

Here is a link one of Mathieu Peeters blog posts on using the traditional layout method.

https://fabulalignarius.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/using-a-sumisashi-and-sumitsubo/

I cant help but thing that the age of the internet has done a great service to this romantic lifestyle.