All about the Amazing Art of Traditional Japanese Carpentry

Japanese craftsmen have been engaged for over a millennium in the maintenance, restoration, and construction of religious temples, residential buildings, furniture, and interior design.  

All of the above-mentioned activities are a subdivision of traditional Japanese carpentry and therefore possess their own denomination.

Therefore, in this blog, we’ll explain everything about this ancient artistic tradition.

 The 4 specialties of traditional Japanese carpentry 

Traditional Japanese carpentry is subdivided into 4 main specialties:

  • Miyadaiku.
  • Sashimono.
  • Sukiya-daiku.
  • Tateguya.

Let us show you the most important characteristics of each one of them.

If you are not an expert, however, please read our blog on basic concepts of wood to better understand all the terms we are going to use.

1. Miyadaiku: traditional Japanese carpentry for religious use 

A Japanese carpenter (miyadaiku) must dedicate many years of his/her life to learning the techniques for preserving, building, and maintaining structures, meaning that the miyadaiku must not only know about carpentry but must also be, at least in part, an engineer.

You may or may not know this but the fact is that Japan is an extremely traditional country in many respects. In fact, part of the appeal that Japanese culture has is due to the confluence of tradition and modernity.

It is here where the miyadaiku acquires great importance in Japanese society as it is in charge of preserving history and tradition through the restoration and preservation of buildings that in some cases are thousands of years old.

Now, let’s see a little about the origins of this millenary art.  

Origins of miyadaiku 

Although miyadaiku is a form of Japanese art, its origins were influenced by cultures such as the Chinese and Korean.

This is a very ancient profession of over 1000 years old and consists of the construction of structures such as buildings, houses, and even bridges without using nails.

The idea is that the pieces of wood fit together thanks to a tongue and groove system, that is, a system in which the pieces of wood are grooved along their edges (the edges are the lateral ends of the wood) so that they are assembled as if it were a jigsaw puzzle.   

In fact, did you know that the oldest company in the world still in operation is in the miyadaiku sector?

Its name is Kongo Gumi and it operated under that name for about 1500 years until it was bought by a Japanese construction conglomerate in 2006.

Another curiosity is that its founder was not a Japanese but a Korean architect-carpenter who, in the middle of the 6th century B. C., traveled from his native Korea to Japan as he had been commissioned to build a Buddhist temple. Since then, this doctrine was gaining strength in Japan.

Once in Japan, he decided to set up his own company to build religious temples.

What does miyadaiku consist of? 

Carpenters who specialize in this art (also called miyadaiku) build shrines and temples by assembling wooden joints.

This is tremendously complex because ensuring that the foundation of a temple can support its weight is already difficult with conventional techniques, i.e., using glue, nails and other types of joints.

However, miyadaiku do not use conventional glues, but rather join the pieces of wood by embedding them together.

This is a complicated process that takes into account the temperature of the pieces since at the moment of gluing one piece of wood to another, it is necessary to have higher humidity (lower temperature) so that it is easier to slide them together.

(Remember that in general terms, wood hardens as it loses humidity).

On the contrary, when the joints need to be glued, the temperature is increased, which reduces the humidity and hardens the wood, making the joint firm.   

Although it may not seem so, this union between woods is very strong enough to support several tons of weight.

Also, on some occasions, at specific points a mud mixture is added to strengthen the union of the pieces of wood, but this is quite rare.

As you can see, the miyadaiku must have good notions of engineering to do their job well.

Field of action of miyadaiku 

On the other hand, the construction of temples or traditional buildings is more complicated every day, mainly because Japan is an island with a lot of seismic activity which means that the buildings must be resistant to earthquakes and fires and, as you can imagine, this cannot be guaranteed if they are only built with wood.

That is why modern temples are built in concrete. So, although there are fewer jobs building temples, employment in the field of building repair remains stable.

In addition, carpentry is considered an art in Japan, and there are always people interested in learning it. This means that those who know this discipline will never be unemployed because, if they do not work restoring old buildings, they can make a living as a teacher.

Additionally, in the last decade, more and more people from all over the world have become interested in learning about Japanese carpentry. They believe that Japanese constructions are very aesthetically appealing and at the same time minimalist.

The best thing is the lack of competition because in order for someone to be accredited as a miyadaiku master carpenter, he or she must have many years of demonstrable experience (on average 15 years).

That is, the miyadaiku must be recognized for having worked in the restoration of some historic building or better yet, must belong to a family that for several generations has worked this art.  

Why are nails not used in miyadaiku? 

The miyadaiku carpenter does not make conventional constructions such as houses or apartments, he is only dedicated to everything related to religious buildings.

In Japan, metal structures are forbidden in the construction of temples mainly because parts such as nails do not withstand moisture well and rust quickly if they are outdoors, which makes the joints not so safe and at the same time detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the buildings.

Therefore, the carpenter is only allowed to work with wood and paper, and rarely with clay.

2. Sashimono-shi: Japanese cabinetmakers 

Origin of Sashimono 

This art originated in the early 17th century.  At that time the pieces made by the sashimono-shi were taken all over Japan by wealthy merchants and samurai lords who were the only ones who could buy them because they were very expensive and of good quality.

What does the sashimono consist of? 

The word sashimono means “furniture” or “utensil” made without nails. This furniture is made of very thin joints that give the impression of being very flimsy, but are actually very hard and strong.

(Now the suffix shi denotes the person’s profession; thus, sashimono is art, and sashimono-shi the artist).

The attractiveness of the furniture 

These pieces of furniture are made by sashimono-shi because they are 100% handmade and only mechanical tools are used, which means that the production time is longer than that of conventional furniture.

This guarantees quality in the construction process, so much so that today several of these pieces of furniture are practically in perfect condition after several centuries of use.

However, it should be clarified that not all pieces are luxury and sashimono professionals also make very practical and inexpensive furniture for all types of use.

Field of action of sashimono-shi 

Japanese cabinetmakers specialize in the construction of furniture of all kinds, for example, they manufacture indoor furniture such as tables, beds, desks, chairs, etc.

They also make boxes and other packaging; doors and window frames. But don’t think that this is easier than building shrines, as the pieces of wood usually require much more planing work because the aim is to highlight the natural pattern of the wood.

In some competitions, participants must plane a piece of wood as thinly as they can without breaking it. The idea is that the contestants demonstrate their skills and receive recognition, which often leads to contracts for new jobs.

3. Sukiya-daiku: Japan’s structural woodwork 

Origins of Sukiya-daiku 

The origins of this traditional Japanese carpentry style date back to the mid-15th century in Japan.

What is Sukiya-daiku? 

Sukiya-daiku are 50% carpenters and 50% architects.

Their technique consists of eliminating excesses and ostension in decoration to give way to a refined and simple look (some would call it minimalist).

The aim of their works is to achieve a traditional appearance of Japanese constructions, which is why they try to make the final appearance of the wood a bit “rough” or “rustic”, which increases its aesthetic attractiveness.

Likewise, sukiya-daiku experts use various techniques to print details on the wood that enhance the grain of the wood, as well as its grain.

Fields of action of Sukiya-daiku 

Professionals of this art are dedicated to the construction of houses, hotels and stores. In other words, they make floors, doors, window frames, beams and stairs, among others.

On the other hand, this art is taught by sukiya-daiku masters who, like the miyadaiku masters, come from families that have dedicated generations to this discipline.

In addition, the teaching of these techniques is completely empirical, that is, students learn by observing and imitating what their teachers do.          

4. Tateguya: traditional Japanese carpentry for interiors   

Finally, we have the Tateguya. To be honest, these professionals are more architects than carpenters and are dedicated to interior design using wood.

You may have seen in movies or documentaries about Japan that some houses or commercial premises have sliding doors that separate or divide rooms and are composed of paper sheets mounted on a wooden frame. These doors are known as “Shoji” and are one of the specialties of the tateguya.

In addition, these craftsmen use bamboo wood as one of their main raw materials.

Invaluable tools in traditional Japanese woodwork 

As we have already seen, each of the 4 subdivisions of traditional Japanese carpentry is an art in its own.

However, Japanese woodworkers have one thing in common: they all use more or less the same tools.

So, if you are interested in starting in this art or you are just curious, let’s see which tools you can’t miss in any Japanese carpentry workshop.

Nokogiri 

It is similar to the carpenter’s saw; in some countries, it is also called “wood saw” or simply “saw”. However, the nokogiri doesn’t cut when its blade is pushed on the wood but when it is pulled back.

That is, since the nogokiri has no serrated blade, it functions more like a knife because its blade is smooth.

It is designed this way because it is used to make fine cuts in pieces of wood that are small and a serrated blade like a saw blade would leave uneven edges, which would require re-planing each time a cut was made, thinning the wood. This increases the risk of losing the piece as it would be too thin and would be useless for joints.

KiwaKanna 

It is the equivalent of a common mechanical planer in carpentry, a sharp metal blade mounted on a handle by which it is grasped.

This tool is used to cut the surface of the wood to even it out by “smoothing” its texture and getting the whole piece to level dimensions allowing elements such as paint and varnish to be easily applied.

In fact, there is not much difference between the Kiwakanna and a common carpenter’s plane.

Nomi 

This tool is the classic woodworking chisel, which is nothing more than a screwdriver-shaped tool.

Chisels come in various sizes or gauges and are used to make fine cuts on wood surfaces. But unlike the planer, which is used to level an entire surface, the chisel is used to make a small pattern to create a new design on the wood.

Kiri  

This tool is probably not very common in western carpentry.

However, its purpose is the drilling of wood pieces to create small holes needed to create the joints where another piece is going to slide.

This is a tool that requires quite a bit of skill to use well, and most often the master carpenter puts a lot of emphasis on teaching you how to use it.

As you can imagine, there are many other tools in Japanese carpentry, but these 4 are the essential tools in any workshop and therefore the ones you should know if you want to start in this art.

In conclusion, traditional Japanese carpentry is an art that requires a lot of effort, dedication, and practice, but once mastered it can become a source of income because each piece made with these techniques is considered almost a work of art for its beauty, functionality and complexity.   

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