Traditional Japanese House Construction.

[goodwoody]

Hello Groovers, On the weekend we travelled to a small billage called Tokigawa. This is a very quaint small village with many traditionally constructed houses, hotels and shacks. Here are some interesting pictures. The first picture Iis of the interior roof construction using the natureal shape of the tree. Not too many straight lines here.
The second and third are similar.
The fourth shows a wedged m&t of small sub-rafter that provide some of the support for the soofits. (dificult to explain)
Photo fifth shows the detail of the window construction using double m&t. ( wouldn't that be fun to do)
Photo 6 shows the entrance door to the udon restaurant. Note the single slab of timber about 1200mm in width.
Lucky last shows another entrance to a house. This one is very traditional.

Damien.

[goodwoody]

More pictures.

[Wild Dingo]

aaahh much food for thought there ol son... maybe I should have a burl at makin a traditional Japanese house instead of puttin up a steel frame one eh?... yeah right like I could see the Harvey Shire lettin that happen :rolleyes:

So you havin a tour around Japan or just visitin family and friends? or just doin your own thing?

Have a good one mate and cheers for the pics! :cool:

[Clinton1]

Thanks Damien.
Please keep the photo's coming as you get to see some of the good stuff. The traditional architecture, trades/crafts and gardens are the only thing that attracts me to Japan, so I'll keep an eye out for anything you post.

Have fun

[goodwoody]

Dingo, Im here in Japan with my own business and generally creating havoc as any true blooded Aussie would do.

Clinton, mate no worries i have ample pics of the groovy side of japan, so I will post in the future. I wasn't sure if anyone was interested.

Damien.

[Andy Mac]

Hi goodwoody,
keep 'em coming, very interesting! Check out the slab on that door on the left (was it the last post of photos?), as wide as the door frame I think!:eek: And the beautiful aging of the timber.
Did I see a double mortice, wonder if it was cut with one of those amazing twin bladed chisels!?:D

Cheers,

[Harry72]

Overkill on them roofing beams!
One can only imagine how long it takes to find logs with the correct amount of curve, wonder if they grow them that way?

[Jill]

Thanks for sharing these, Damien. We've been to Japan but didn't get to see this side of it! I love any rustic, vernacular architecture - bare bones type of buildings. It's interesting, isn't it, to see the similarities with the trad. cruck frame buildings in the UK, and the log framed homes all over the World, really - the natural logs, with some attempt at squaring off with basic tools, all exposed, etc. What is the infill in these? Wattle and daub? Looks like cypress for the ceiling in the first ones? I wonder if they have termites?

Cheers,

Jill

[goodwoody]

Jill, the logs are a type of cedar that is similar to Huon Pine. Its is soft resinous and has a Phenolic compound that the termites dont like. The black coating is over 100 years of silt and smoke from the "irori" which is their open fireplace.

I have a question What is wattle and daub?

damien.

[Andy Mac]

What is wattle and daub?

Wikipedia says: Daub and wattle are building materials (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_material) used in constructing houses. A woven latticework of wooden stakes called wattles is daubed with a mixture of mud and clay, animal dung and straw to create a structure. The daub was sometimes mixed (a laborious process by hand) by placing it in farm gateways for the animals to trample through. Hence the dung would have been introduced more as a side-effect than intentionally, although it does no harm to the mix. It is normally whitewashed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewash) to increase its resistance to rain.

Was used by early settlers here.

Cheers,

[AlexS]

Thanks for the pics Damien. Some of your mate's shop in Kawagoe would be of interest to many here I reckon.



Was used by early settlers here.

Cheers,
Yep, Australia's wattle was so named because it was a popular timber for this process.

[Jill]

Jill, the logs are a type of cedar that is similar to Huon Pine. Its is soft resinous and has a Phenolic compound that the termites dont like. The black coating is over 100 years of silt and smoke from the "irori" which is their open fireplace.

I have a question What is wattle and daub?

damien.

Thanks for the info, Damien. I love the practicality of the Japanese with their space usage in their homes, etc. Oh, and the BEST, sweet ripe fresh figs I ever tasted I bought down some side street in Osaka...and the biggest persimmons - I've never seen any near that size over here!

(Thanks Andy for filling Damien in on the wattle and daub - you beat me & explained it better!) In Chester, England - the city famous for it's black cruck framed buildings - a lot of those have been built with wattle and daub infill, and some are still in good nick even though they were built in 1200 AD.

Have fun over there!

Cheers,
Jill

[zenwood]

Interesting pics, goodwoody. The door has a very wide board in that frame -- I wonder if expansion is a problem.

Also, I wonder why the wood turns white near the ground. Photo effect, or splashing up from the ground, or does it go white when wet?

[jacko]

I do like the minimalist style, also seen in Dutch/Belgium farm buildings esp. barns. However the Japanese seem to have a way of doing it just a bit better! Thanks for posting and the insights added. makes a great detour from the normal posts on this BB. Funny how they can make age look good, wish I could learn that trick (both for woodwork and myself!) Keep up the flow.
Jacko

[Poloris]

Tradition Japanese homes are built to resist typoons, but that heavy clay tile roof and a lack of bracing of the walls, means they are killers in a earthquake.
This is what caused the big death toll in Kobe.

I don't think I would sleep soundly in one.
:rolleyes:

[DPB]

This kind of traditional work is counter-intuitive for me.

I struggle to make every joint absolutely square, every piece of timber as straight and flat as I can make it, and even so, often find my finished work just doesn't come out right, doesn't fit like it should, or isn't square despite all my efforts.

Yet, Damien, here you show us work where it's obvious that everything was eyeballed when cut - nothing seems to be square and certainly the joints are rough at best (although those through mortises in the window look pretty flush). How come these building stand up?:confused: Can you imagine making a small box using this kind of joinery?:eek:

Thanks for sharing these - beautiful traditional work is always a joy to behold!:)