carpentry exams

[Chris Hall]

Yikes,

that's a bit depressing to read, though I noticed poor work in some new construction when I was last there over 10 years ago. I guess that's only increased since then. They are slow to change things, so I'm not surprised about the single-pane windows. I remember that aluminum frame windows were considered the new thing when I was there, and they are terrible. I'm also not surprised about the poor thermal design.

Traditional, well-built Japanese houses are a very expensive proposition, and in the face of growing competition from the 2x4 and pre-fab house industries, it is not surprising that the old style carpentry is dying out. Japan has held on longer than most places, and maintained a long continuity of tradition.

There are some great lessons in Japanese architecture, but like that school you mentioned, those are lessons from the past it would seem.

[durbien]

Matt, thanks for posting that. The video depicts one of the taikai events, and that project is the hinged/folding version of the sawhorse. I was thinking we might do that sawhorse next year at some point, with a few tweaks.

Ah! I was wondering what that metal rod was for!

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the top is split and the bevel angle where the two halves come together - along with the rod, and the splayed nature of the stool - is all that keeps it together?

[Mathieu]

Closing due to lack of interest, even in Japan...this is sad news. I feel I should increase my efforts with putting out information on carpentry drawing and try to get more people interested.

Yes Chris, please. I'm noticing that many of the people carrying on the Japanese traditions and becoming fabulous shokunin (職人) are foreigners who have discovered the beauty of these traditions. In Japan sadly, they are often in their 70s and 80s and have no heir. I was on a construction site and showed some of them a few of my old books about Japanese house construction. They were really interested and wanted to find these books in Japanese (?). The owner of the company came by and told them not to bother and they don't need to know more than a few basic joinery methods to build a house now.

Rereading this tread I missed this post and felt like I should point out a different perspective as well.
There is actually a quit large community, which is very alive and kicking or should I say cutting, of Japanese young daiku who are seriously committed to continue their craft on a high level. I know so since I am lucky enough to be friends with a few and have discussed this matter with them as well. Sure they might not be as numerous as before but there are still plenty. There is indeed less traditional work available and this has an influence but there is no need to dispair at the moment.
What is more important is how we will secure a position of our craft in todays rapidly changing world. We can do so in many ways but it will need to be a group effort. Particularly led by professionals, those who are making a living doing it.
Industries and economies have always evolved, today is certainly no different. It is a matter of creativity to secure a place somewhere without being pushed in the margin. Hard work and remaining positive will surely help.

[Dennis]

There still is excellent traditional carpentry work being done in Japan, but to a large degree it has been replaced by 2x4 construction or metal framed construction, or something possibly out of someone's imagination that meets the codes. It tends to be regional to an extent, where you find a greater or lesser amount of traditional work still carried on. It's a pretty complex issue why things have evolved in this unfortunate way, and goes back quite a few years to when the transition first started. In my opinion, I think the first signs that carpentry was entering a new era, was when replaceable blade tools became popular, that is saws, chisels, and planes becoming preferred by carpenters, with the thought that they could save valuable time by not sharpening themselves, and with saws; reduce the expense of having them sharpened. I remember visiting job sites and observing the new style tools and having a sense of disappointment, and also thinking to myself that the change was somehow ominous. Carpenters were people that I could always talk with about traditional tools. One guy that I had known for many years, frankly said to me, "I don't have time to sharpen any longer". To what extent the time pressures were real for him or imagined and something that he had talked himself into believing, I'm not really sure, but it certainly was an indication of times that were coming, and such sentiment about a differing association with one's tools was sweeping through the carpentry ranks. Someone that had once found the original tools so inspirational, could be incredulous to what was happening, but it was too real none the less.

More and more non-traditional construction companies entered the business, and their budgets and skills at marketing, much changed the publics perception of what good work comprised. Glossy brochures and fancy furnished showrooms was something that traditional carpenters never had, and like with many other types of craftsmen in Japan, work came via reputation and word of mouth. It had always been that way. That became much less influential compared to the power of slick persuasive marketing. More and more it became rarer to see houses that had been framed and the construction up to that point left to season for three or four months before carrying on with the work. Marketing convinced potential customers that waiting six months or longer to have a home built was an archaic approach. It takes some perception of Japanese mentality to understand how the public can gobble up such things and take it as truth. People selling work weren't those with callouses on their hands any longer, they were sales specialists. Traditional carpenters sadly got left in the dust, and rather than try and be smart about it and make efforts to direct resources towards better informing people of the quality and confidence that their skills brought, many of them threw in the towel or went to at least getting hired where pounding nails could bring them a living. If you have never much had to market yourself, having to begin doing so during mid career or later, can be rather intimidating, people often don't know where to start, and may have little interest in that aspect of running a business. It perhaps raises the question of how much many of them had valued their traditional skills, within the country there was little uncommon about the practices that they learned to use. The traditional carpenters that remain today are those that endured and are seen by enough customers as a more favourable alternative to the newer type construction. Sometimes you see zai rai construction with a twist nowadays as well, traditional combined with pre fabricated elements, and carpenters often don't do any of the preliminary work to produce the components, are pretty much just assemblers to a large degree. Using all seasoned wood from the start is common now as well. The blame for the disappearing skills, I believe is both shared by the public for being so ill informed and incapable of making wiser choices, and by the carpenters themselves for not being more dutiful to what they had originally learned as being a very meaningful way to work, both for themselves and for the people that could be using what they produced.

There certainly are cheap costing homes, but I think that price is a lesser factor for the modern changes in construction methods. Especially the homes built by the larger and better known contemporary styled construction companies, cost wise are on a par with traditional housing. These outfits have offices and showrooms and many staff not associated with the actual construction itself. They have to pay for their approach by charging beyond simply the construction costs, in order to keep their businesses afloat. Lots of carpenters now are no longer directly affiliated with a specific company, they are members that comprise a pool of workers that various companies can tap into when they need people to work a job. There can be a lot of pressure now to get things done quickly to satisfy the needs of the companies hiring them. There can be very limited emotional connection to the job sites where they are working. I have visited some of these sites and drank tea with the carpenters, some can do good work if they want to, but sadly have lost the connection and inspiration to do so. You can sometimes see it in their faces. No longer do you see a bottle of sake at a construction site either, it has become taboo. That may also be a factor in the loss of spirit, and a somewhat subtle one, given the thought of how some craftsmen have related to the subject of traditional work.

[Mathieu]

Dennis,
Thank you for your sharp analysis and nothing you mention I can disagree with. However I have myself dwelled too long on all the thoughts about those things that are developing in a negative way and spiral our world downward. I am born in Belgium which centuries ago used to be the center of crafts in Northern Europe. Unfortunately this is long gone and as one of the first countries after England to embrace the Industrial Revolution this among other aspects has led to almost all traditional crafts have completely died out generations ago. Most of todays craftspeople had to start a new lineage of craftsman and often reinvent what used to be well practiced.
My awareness about these things has often brought me down to a depressing mood questioning all aspects of modern society. Still I rather leave nostalgic feelings of 'how much better it used to be' aside and focus on today and what lays ahead. And although I still question those same things I have decided that holding on to a negative attitude is not going to change anything let alone make me or others feel beter about this. What we can do is making it happen, do the work make it available and thereby creating awareness that will translate in demand and a community of craftspeople.

Don't get me wrong I am not saying that you are all but being negative since your work shows clearly that you are a prime example of a craftsman who is contributing in a significant way. But what I missed in the previous posts was a positive point of view, an opinion that makes you want to stand up walk into the shop and start making something since you believe that there is a bright future out there for our craft and there is a place for it even in todays modernized world. And this is truly what I believe! After reading some of the previous comments I rather had a feeling of 'what is it all worth, probably nothing the world has gone to s#*t anyway'.
What I am saying is that it all depends on ourselves and the choices we make in what direction our craft will evolve.

Okay I guess I am going to quit writing, wasting my time behind this screen and move to my enjoyable unheated workshop and finish a sliding door I am working on.

[Dennis]

Hi Mathieu, and nice to meet you over the posting on the subject of carpentry in Japan. I wouldn't want to argue with optimism, it's the best attitude to have, and when it comes to making things for a living, especially quality goods that might have a more limited market due to the fees that have to be asked as a result of the time investment factor, when business might become slow, keeping a positive look towards the future is all important. In that regard, i can only feel that your post is very well taken.

I will respond, however, and I hope less intended to be in a negative vein, than merely attempting to put things in perspective when it comes to the subject of work in Japan, both woodwork and other trades. I lived and worked in japan as an apprentice over forty years ago, it was a time before the bubble economy when I think it might be fair to say that just about all carpenters were schooled in the timber frame type of construction as the basic skill level of their work, on up to what might sometimes be described as a pinnacle of achievement the way that more specialised carpenters approached the construction of temples and shrines. The need for the work and the given approaches was very healthy then, and it was always enjoyable to walk by a carpenter's shop and see the timbers neatly stacked up in front with their worked joinery, prior to be taken to the location where the structure would be raised. It is not only enjoyable, but also inspirational to have been learning to do woodwork for a living, when the prevailing standard among other people in the same trade or ones with similarities, was so high. Becoming a competent craftsman takes a lot of perseverance and often requires keeping a staying power motivated from beyond what can be had from only one's self. No better example can be had than what Chris offers to his students and people that follow his writings. Not only woodworking, but the gamut, be it textiles or ceramics or professional gardening, etc., observing a strong commitment to do good work happening by someone, or even better, existing all around, is a very supportive environment to have to reflect upon when someone wants to enter that world themselves, and once they have set foot into it, the need to keep it up. Favourable winds are a good thing. Society today offers a lot of distractions and impetus to move away from more traditional approaches because of the desire to make things quicker with the greater profit potential to be had, and along with that, often comes a loss of quality. People in the beginning don't really know what they can achieve themselves, one's capabilities are unknown, but one of the beautiful things about crafts is that by keeping your goals in mind as to why you might have first begun the work, more often than not when given the right opportunities, one can get to a point where they themselves can much achieve a high order of things. It can seem like a miracle, but that is what consistent practice brings. It has become considerably more rare to find that kind of stimulation being afforded by what has become a much lower standard of work today. One can go to school and such, but there are few companies or shops that are in a position to take on someone with limited experience that wishes to learn high quality woodwork. There is something very powerful within the lineage of a trade when something has been carried on through successive generations. You are correct in saying that a new lineage can once again bring forth inspired work, and it's a fine thing, but at the same time there can be a loss both technically, and also something more subtle that can be beyond words to very easily describe. Call it atmosphere, and perhaps from the commonplace over time. Something zen about that. A location that easily comes to mind is once visiting a bloke by the name of Edward Barnsley in the Cotswolds of Great Britain, he was much steeped in the English tradition of furniture making, had both been an heir to it and had added his own contributions. His shop was so fully rich with traditional atmosphere, it was pure joy to behold. The smallest technique that enables a certain process to be carried on efficiently and with predictably good results, is of immense value. When something has been lost, as has been the case, it may never be found again. i think that is rather tragic.

My previous post wasn't at all meant to detract from anyone's enthusiasm. I wanted to describe the reality of the situation as I perceived what caused the great decline in craftsmanship amongst carpenters in Japan today. Fewer and fewer carpenters in Japan now, know that there is a whole different side to working, and one that could very well add complexity and richer enjoyment to their work. Many will never use a hand plane and develop the satisfaction that can be had from the tool. I don't think that it is a very interesting subject when looking at the reasons that the spirit behind the work has headed south, so to speak, but it isn't surprising to perhaps want to know why such an evolved activity lost it's impetus over a relatively short period of time. I didn't much mention it, but there are also some other nuances of Japanese culture that also prompted the change, that is the consciousness of the culture. Japanese are a people that often don't miss something until it is completely gone, have a somewhat limited ability to conceptualise about the value of certain aspects of their own more traditional culture. They live on an island, basically, are unable to utilise comparisons that could offer insight.

Personally, I much think that there is a great need for good workmanship to be expressed in today's society. It takes a certain calmness of spirit to achieve good results when making things, and it also takes a degree of trust among the producer and the user of the goods. I think that is a fair generalization that can be made. If ever society needed elements within it that reflect calmness and trust, it is surely today. Good workmanship also manifests security in what has become a rather insecure world. A bit of a drift from the topic, but I had a rather revealing and frustrating experience recently, trying to open a bank account in the United States from my location abroad, a simple savings account. i'm a US citizen, meet the requirements with the documentation that has always sufficed to establish one's identity, pay my required US taxes, etc., but without having a credit card that was issued from an entity in the United States, though I tried a number of them, no bank would consider allowing the account, including a bank where i currently have another existing different type account. It's part of the security concerns that the US Patriot act addresses . Nobody wants to trust anybody anymore, everyone can be seen as a potential threat. Ordering something from someone, perhaps that is working in a small and unheated shop as yourself, sometimes suffering to do good work, relying on that person to represent themselves in a dutiful and trustworthy way, it is a fine thing to have going.

New generation craftsmen that started on their own, may be the only alternative to have available that offers a chance at keeping the valuable. Some types of furniture making, for example, have completely died out and have been reborn again. It's a great thing in itself. Hopefully there will always be people wise enough to spend their money on the goods that come from the dedicated shops, or be it a person doing the work for their own use, it's all quite worthy and sacred and much needs to continue, in my opinion.

[Sebastian Gonzalez]

I don't know if you know this piece, I found it beautifully sad and full of insights, and quite fitting to the topic

http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/artic ... tinction-1

Thanks a lot for the truly evocative description Dennis.

[Brian]

I personally believe we will enter a renaissance of craft. Denmark is a great example of the combination of sales and advertising with genuine handcraft and sold to a global market. There is a market to sustain even small shops so long as they are capable of reaching a global client.

[Paul Atzenweiler]

I was on a large building site a few years ago where I was the lead finish carpenter. I had all my tools in my corner of the project and they included a large number of my Japanese tools. One of the structural engineers commented on them and said he had recently been on a site in Japan. I was very excited and began grilling him as to the Japanese carpenters and some of their procedures fully expecting him to praise their work ethic and craftsmanship. He said he had actually been very frustrated with them because (he said) they were very slow and there seemed to be an odd daily competition as to who would leave the site last even if they weren't getting any work done. I asked if what he felt was "slowness" was instead craftsmen doing quality work and it just took longer than he was used to in America. He said he wished that was the case. He said the project took forever and he left feeling confused and frustrated at their work habits. Truthfully I was very sad because it seemed to be opposite from what I had read.
Has anyone who has vistited/lived in Japan experienced what this person described?

[Chris Hall]

"...there seemed to be an odd daily competition as to who would leave the site last"

I've experienced that exact thing in Japan. In most professions, it is all about working many many days and never taking time off. it is not about being hyper-productive or efficient. That said, the ideal for a Japanese carpenter is to be both good and fast. The story you relate is interesting and a little surprising, but not totally surprising.