In a weeks time we shall be on our way to Japan for Chisana Kesurokai.
We fly firstly from London to Dubai where we have a three hour break and will meet up with the rest of the group who are flying from Germany. I imagine this will be a strange meeting place for a group of traditional carpenters, surrounded by marble, glass and duty free shopping outlets! Then we continue onto Tokyo where we shall be met by Amemiya San and taken by coach to the our accommodation, which is nearby where the building will take place.
We have been advised that the weather there at the moment is warm and humid, not excessively so but the mosquitos are very bad. Tomorrow we will go shopping for a mosquito net and repellant!
Amemiya san has composed a song for our Chisana Kesurokai event and posted this beautiful video of him singing it for us:
Behind him you can see some of the Japanese carpenters who are preparing for our arrival, along with a couple of German journeymen carpenters who are currently travelling in the area. He has suggested that each nation should learn a song from their home land to teach to the others on site.
Our final team is nearly finalised. Whilst it has been a disappointment that the Czechoslovakian craftsmen will be unable to come, there are some Austrian carpenters who have come on board instead. Also, Hannes and Cornel are currently working in France and have met some French carpenters who might also interested.
I just received a lovely set of photos from a meeting of the German carpenters a week ago. Their main discussion was about the construction of the European Pavilion; how to divide down the making of it so different groups could work simultaneously on different parts whilst ensuring it would all fit together at the end of the event. They also had a Skype meeting with the Japanese carpenters ... and with myself of course!
There was also the final push to get all the tools that were being shipped in advance to Japan ready to go. Whilst many new ones have been given by some wonderful sponsors, the others are fine old tools that have been bought for or given to the project. Many of these were in need of a little cleaning and sharpening first and by the looks of the pictures the team thoroughly enjoyed the activity.
Whilst most of the Kesurokai team are carpenters, we will also be accompanied by two blacksmiths; Manfred Heiser and Gunther Löbach who will make various metal parts needed for the building (nails, barbecue etc). Manfred has been involved in the previous Kesurokai events and can be seen here at the 2007 event working on the top section of the torii with Amemiya san:
Gunther originally trained as a carpenter and cartwright before he started metalworking and now runs his own business designing and making knives, ScorpioDesign. Knives are also a passion of mine as my last research project involved re-interpreting the skills of traditional Sheffield knife makers for contemporary craft practitioners, working with my friend, knife maker Grace Horne. When we were chatting on Skype at the weekend Hannes was showing me this knife of Gunther's which is fantastic!
If you have 25 minutes to spare, settle down and watch Gabriel Branby talk about how he turned around the ailing Gränsfors Bruks axe factory and has kept its head above water. (Thanks for the link Nigel.) It is both fascinating and inspirational:
It makes me feel even more touched that they chose to give us some tools to send out to Kesurokai and I look forwards to taking some photos and video of them in action in return.
I watched/ listened to this on my laptop whilst sat at my sewing machine altering a jacket, which brings me back to my previous post about the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum when I made a sweeping statement about disliking museums. This wasn't intended as a criticism of museums generally, just a personal reflection on the effect they have on me because I am so restless and impatient. I think museums offer a huge amount to so many people, as well as preserving many very
important artefacts. However, unless I am really involved in something, preferably doing something, I
find it difficult to engage my brain, hence the sewing and video combination!
For those interested in Japanese axes and other traditional carpentry tools, take a look at the web site of the Takenaka carpentry tools museum. As well as having excellent images of lots of beautiful old tools there is a whole section explaining in quite some detail about them, including regional variations and their cultural significance. They have some connection with the main Japanese Kesurokai events, I recall from a conversation with Hannes a while back, I think they might provide some sort of sponsorship. Anyway, here's a taster from the site:
I love the web site but must confess to hating museums, their sterile environment very rapidly gives me information overload, so I was greatly relieved to see this is far away from where we are staying. Visiting it with a group of carpenters would have been a nightmare! I am far happier doing my background research in my own time and space, then watching the tools in action on the work site when I can see how they work and talk to those who are skilled in their use.
The big Gränsfors Bruks parcel arrived at Hannes' house yesterday so our tools are now all ready to go to Japan. This weekend the German carpenters will have a big meeting there to discuss the work plans and I shall hopefully drop in via the wonders of Skype.
For Erik, who also asked here, the symbols that are used to mark the joints on the European pavilion are so
old their origins are unknown, but they can be seen on most timber
framed buildings, going back to Medieval ones, and throughout Europe
with a few regional variations.
The Japanese have a different way of
labelling joints, using different symbols. They also always use ink,
rather than European-style carving, and mark the inside of the joint so
it is hidden when the building is complete, rather than the outside so
it is on view with the European system.
There is no sign of any labelling on the Japanese carpenters' model of their tea house below,
but I suspect the symbols on the paper marking where each upright is
provide the key.
This is for Tom who asked here how the vertical beams connect to the horizontal ones at the corners. The answer is that it is a mortice and tennon joint which goes right through and also holds the two corner pieces together. Very neat!
The two corner pieces are joined by a special kind of dovetail joint which has a very long name in German and Hannes didn't know if it had an English name. He described this joint as a mixture of French and German techniques and the whole building uses a blend of various different European joints. I think that cutting these joints will require a great deal of patience and accuracy and I am really looking forwards to seeing it happen.
(Again this was communicated via the wonders of Skype with Hannes sketching and holding bit of paper up to the camera to explain!)
Last weekend a small group of the German carpenters got together to prepare tools for Japan. Quite a few of the tools they are sending out are second hand so they needed cleaning, sharpening, new handles making and so on. From the photos they sent it looks as if they had an enjoyable time - in the picture on the right they are slicing their bread with a cross-cut saw. Jacob's email says that Hannes also cooked them a delicious meal of fried chicken, vegetables and potatoes followed by beer, schnaps and a bonfire! (My thanks to Melisande for the translation.)
Hannes says he now has a very impressive collection of tools all ready to go and I have asked him to send a photograph. The next stage is not so enjoyable, there is a large amount of paperwork to do before they can be shipped. A complete inventory has to be drawn up, each tool valued so the correct duties can be paid, then an inspector will visit and check everything before finally sealing the box.
I was rather taken with this little story from the Gränsfors Bruks "Axe Book" (which is available to download in 8 different languages here):
In pre-industrial time all axes were hand forged to styles
decided upon by the way they were used, the preferences of the carpenter, and
the skills of the smith. Then, with 19th century industrialisation,
came a boom in demand for axes and the means of mass manufacture. Production
shifted to factories and designs gradually changed, influenced by streamlining
production and lowering costs, often at the expense of the functionality of the
tools.
Gränsfors Bruks started making axes in 1902 and moved with
the times, competing for the mass market, until in 1989 the skilled
craftsman-designer Hans Erik Persson took the bold move of stepping back to the
pre-industrial era. He started re-designing their range of axes with a focus on
the needs of the craftsmen who were using them and also decided they should have a
natural forged finish to show the quality of their manufacture. (Mass-produced tools have their surface imperfections
hidden by being polished, filled and the surface painted.)
So, Gränsfors make specialist axes and employ around a dozen
smiths, each ‘signing’ the axes they make with a stamp with their initials.
Whilst they do use modern machinery (see the video below) there is clearly
still considerable skill in the process. The company pride themselves in the
quality and durability of their produce; whilst they cost more than their
mass-produced rivals, they last so long and work so well that a craftsman would not wish to replace one on a whim.
I must add that I am not just saying this because they have kindly
donated tools to our event. Robin and I have been teaching spoon carving
courses for several years and have built up a collection of Gränsfors Swedish
carving axes for participants to use along with a few Wildlife Hatchets for those
who favour something smaller. They have seen long, hard use and are excellent tools!
Kesurokai unites European and Japanese master craftsmen, increasing cultural understanding by living and working together, sharing skills, food & conversation.
(more about it 