Japanese post & beam
Over the past few days I’ve really been on a Japanese culture kick, it has to be my increased studies of aikido and kenjutsu over the past few months. So, if you’re a regular to the site you may have noticed quite a few posts featuring work from Takumi and today I’d like to showcase the skill that goes into traditional Japanese post & beam construction. As you can see from the images above Japanese post and beam is very intricate, with numerous mortise & tenon joints throughout. If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed that the holes are square to facilitate wooden pegs for fastenings. No metal is used in the joinery. I think this quote from Takumi pretty much sums it up:
It is not easy to accomplish the level of quality that is typical to Japanese architecture.Hand Planing The working Craftsmen are required to be highly trained, usually by a lengthy apprenticeship, becoming experts in the use of traditional joinery tools and techniques. Much of the work is accomplished with hand tools; saws and chisels for joinery, hand planes for finishing.
