An overview of modern Japanese wood construction (2004) [pdf] | Hacker News Reader

An overview of modern Japanese wood construction (2004) [pdf]

forum-holzbau.com

187 pointsrevolucien31 comments

There is a Japanese carpenter with 50 years of experience on YouTube who documents his construction of entire homes, which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in modern Japanese wood construction:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf5QHEpfrg3KydeT3iD2IQ (English)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdrVc2ByfvnNW14R6o_WpkA (Japanese)

Further rabbit-hole source material...

https://www.interactiongreen.com/kuma-kengo-louvers/

I have also recently discovered his channel. It is a joy to watch him work.

Thanks for the links! I'm already subscribed to his japanese channel, and I have watched a lot of his videos on it. I don't speak japanese, but that doesn't matter at all!

I didn't know about his english channel.

On traditional Japanese carpentry for houses (not temples, where it is still the norm), one of the best english sources is Akinori Abo:

Japanology Plus - Wood : Carpentry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBzszOLt2Ms

木組展おうちでミュージアム／竹中大工道具館「木組みの家/Kigumi House」（Japanese and English） https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HMa5tofqps

Takenaka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takenaka_Corporation) museum has many videos: https://www.youtube.com/@user-wx9vl7xn6s/videos

I do not have anything about temple carpenters handy.

There is also traditional Japanese joinery (the profession), like e.g. Edo sashimono or Kyo sashimono (in Japenese)

Sashimono Woodwork in Japan Japanology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UEEz111uIM

And there is Suda Kenji https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epCgloUe9dU

And lumber porn: Massive Lumber Warehouse in Shinkiba, Tokyo - Understand Wood from a Professional Japanese Carpenter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLTrDQ3vaVU

Do you know what types of wood is considered furniture grade by the Japanese? In the US, all I hear about is walnut teak and mahogany.

The bed we recently bought was "mostly Japanese joinery" type construction. It was an absolute joy to assemble, which when I think about it is a very weird thing to say about a bed. But I've told several people this, so it must have had an effect on me.

I don't want to be thought of as shilling for a brand, but the brand I got is Thuma. Assembly instructions: https://www.thuma.co/pages/assembly-thebed-headboard

And a video: https://youtu.be/f89pdrHEkm8

That honestly looks super fun and satisfying to assemble!

I'm curious how it sleeps and wears over time. I was thinking of building one like that, but decided against it because of the concern of the joints between the legs and the rails: if it's loose enough to assemble in the summer time without an almighty hammer, it seems like it'd be subject to a fair bit of racking and rattling during the winter when the air is much drier.

Does anyone here have any long-term experience with this kind of bed?

I’ve had a Thuma frame for over a year now.

No rattling, no loosening. I plan to purchase another one (a king size) later this year.

Going on 2 years it's the best bed I've had. Completely silent and sturdy.

Japanese Homes and their Surroundings 1889 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52868

One of my favorites on this subject, focuses more on design than construction but goes into some details which many books on construction neglect or gloss over.

The Japanese House: A Tradition for Contemporary Architecture by Heinrich Engel

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/424932

Thank you so much, I've been looking for this vaguely remembered book on the internet for many years. I read it in the library as a tween in the 80s but never saw it again.

Incidentally, typical Japanese homes last 30 years and then are rebuilt: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusabl...

Maybe, maybe not. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/ja...

One major thing to consider is that the last major revisions to Japan’s earthquake codes were in 1981, so until the last decade or so, buying a house over 30 years old meant that the house had a significantly higher likelihood of collapsing during a quake.

What a lot of these articles are missing is the additional building and maintenance costs.

Sure a building can be made to last a lot more than 30 years, provided you plan for it upfront with additional materials and architecture costs, and execute regular maintenance including on plumbing and potentially windows/door framing, which also have significant costs. All in all, considering Japan’s building constraints, the total budget for the house lasting 100 years will cost more than a standard house you scrap down and rebuild every 30 years.

Basically it’s the ship of Theseus’ paradigm: do you rebuilt a house piece by piece over time, or do full reboots at specific moments.

An illustration of this issue when looking at long term ownership of older houses:

https://cheaphousesjapan.com/buying-a-house-in-japan-advice/

> So why did I buy a newer house?

> I realized that an older, traditional house would be much more work and also more expensive and time consuming to maintain.

Those houses have nothing to do with traditional Japanese construction and joinery, those are just cheap houses built to fill an immediate need. This is a fairly common thing anywhere that is experiencing rapid growth, you either meet the needs of the people or they move somewhere else, you can't expect them to be homeless until their palace is built.

Edit: I said traditional and the thread is about modern, but OPs link is referring more to design than construction, very much uses traditional techniques with some variations to adapt it too modern tools. Good article.

Japan is experiencing rapid growth?

Tokyo is, yes.

Wow, look at those beautiful precut joints. Meanwhile in the US, you're picking through a pile of ugly bent up lumber just to find something that's not totally screwed up.

Stick building does not require perfect lumber, part of its advantage. If you want good lumber in the US than don't dig through construction grade lumber, go to a proper lumber yard that caries higher grades, if they don't have it they will happily get anything you are willing to pay for. And if you want Japanese construction there are plenty of people in the US more than capable of it.

Pretty much everything you get at the hardware store is overpriced junk, including and especially wood. Try to find a different source.

Except 2x4 framing, which is often a loss leader to get contractors in the door.

Yes indeed and also convenience. Big box stores are great when you need to grab a few (or more) pieces of whatever at 9pm on a Sunday.

But otherwise yeah support your local lumberyard whenever possible - and help them have reasonable working hours etc

Has little to do with US versus other countries. You're probably looking through framing lumber. Those don't need to be straight and are priced accordingly.

If you want stuff that's dimensionally accurate, you'll want to look at the furniture grade selection (which will be a relatively small area) or go to a lumber yard where there's more selection. The big box stores mostly focus on the lower grade lumber.

From HN:

Beginning Woodworking

http://woodgears.ca/beginner/

Interesting thread that also talks about Japanese saws and their pros and cons.

there was a guy from Kentucky / Tennessee area that moved to California with his long, blonde hair and beard, and studied that carpentry. He had a long wood working tradition at home, and was skilled enough - in the 1970s, when Yoko and John were an item. This guy eventually did visit Japan, but the trip did not go well. Whatever happened, it did not go well.

Later, besides doing occasional museum demonstrations and other high-skill one-off things, you know because he just was not skilled enough for the natives or something .. he got a job rebuilding one of Larry Ellison's mansions, who had a fetish for Japanese wealth. OK actually, he was plenty skilled he was just not the right race apparently.

What are you trying to say?

The Japanese are a special blend of insular / racist, I'd guess.i mean, ethnic Japanese that settled in Brazil are not regarded as true Japanese.

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