Japanese Woodand Carpentry
Rustic and Refined
Mechtild Mertz

KAISEISHA PRESSJapanese Wood and Carpentry
Rustic and Refined

Mechtild Mertz

KAISEISHA PRESSJapanese Wood and Carpentry
Rustic and RefinedbyMechtild Mertz

KAISEISHA PRESS© 2020 by Mechtild Mertz
All rights reserved. First edition 2020.
Printed in Japan
ISBN978-4-86099-367-2 C3072

KAISEISHA PRESS
2-16-4 Hiyoshidai, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture 520-0112, JAPAN
Tel: +81-77-577-2677
Fax: +81-77-577-2688
http://www.kaiseisha-press.ne.jp

This book was published with the assistance of a grant fromthe East Asian Civilizations Research Centre (CRCAO), Paris.

This book is dedicated to my parents, Carien and Christian.

﻿

iii

Foreword

The use of wood as a material for construction dates back to the beginnings of mankind and iscommon to most cultures across the globe. While the use of wood in architecture is not confined
to Japanese civilization alone, Japan is undoubtedly the land where woodcraft, in carpentry andcabinetmaking alike, reached a level of refinement and mastery rarely seen elsewhere in the world.
The Japanese archipelago was not affected by the great glaciations of the Quaternary period,
which allowed for the preservation of its natural and rich laurisilva. Owing to a subtropical climate
extending to its northernmost regions and the development of intensive and effective silviculture,
Japanese forests remain among the most diverse in the world. Given the severe earthquakes to which
Japan is subject, wood became the primary construction material for human habitation from protohistoric Japan onwards. Indeed, wood has been used throughout the archipelago's history for thebuilding of all types of edifices, whether rural or urban, from modest dwellings to palaces, militarystrongholds, temples or shrines. Even today, while concrete and metal are used in large modernbuildings and structures, suburban housing still largely consists of wooden structures for the roof
frames and floors as well as the for ceilings and walls. The same may be said of everyday objects andutensils, many of which are still made of wood, bearing witness to Japanese culture's long-lasting
appreciation for this natural material endowed with a wealth of both technical and aestheticalqualities.
Japanese culture's love and deep respect for wood also derives from the vernacular worshipof spirits (kami) that are believed to inhabit Nature. According to the various beliefs that shaped
Shinto, forests have always been the natural abode of kami. Among the three major categories of
divine bodies —natural, artificial, and human—trees are, without question, the preferred mediumof the kami, hence the great number of shrines across Japan associated with a particular tree. The
influence of such beliefs is also reflected in Japanese architecture. One such instance is the central
pillar of the wooden support structure of traditional rural houses, the daikoku-bashira 大黒柱 (theDaikoku pillar), where the family worships Daikoku, the household deity of good fortune. The latter
evolved as a result of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism wherein the ancient great god of the earth mergedwith the Indian deity Mahakala.
For these reasons, among many others, the study of wood culture in Japanese architecture
calls for scholarship in several disciplines, including scientific, technical, and aesthetical. In thisrespect, Mechtild Mertz is ideally positioned to take on this challenge. As an ethno-botanist
and historian of art and archaeology, she has a unique combination of knowledge that few other
Western scholars could boast of. In addition to her expertise in dendroecology and xylology, she
has studied wood species and their uses in Chinese and Japanese art for over twenty years. Her
present work supplements her prior book Wood and Traditional Woodworking in Japan (publishedby the same editor in 2011), by focusing on the main species of wood traditionally used by Japanese
woodworkers in temple, teahouse, and residential architecture, as well as in the production ofmobile components and room dividers: i.e., doors, windows, screens, and shutters. The originality ofForewordiv

this work also lies in the reproduction of a number of plates from the Yūyō Mokuzai Shōran 有用木
材捷覧 (An Overview of Japan's One Hundred Most Important Timber Species). This book, publishedin Japan in 1876, presents some hundred among the most remarkable wood species of the country.
Mechtild Mertz's present work includes thirty-two reproductions of these magnificent illustrations
representing those species most commonly used in construction and furniture. Owing to the wealthof its pictorial material, not to mention the scientific precision and clarity of its content, this bookconstitutes an invaluable resource for and contribution to the study of woodcraft in Japan.

Nicolas Fiévé
Research Director
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – PSL Research University
Former Director of the East Asian Civilisations Research Centre

vContents
Foreword...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................................................................................................................vii
Notes on Typography............................................................................................................................................................................................................. ix
Chronological Table of Japanese Historical Periods............................................................................................................................x
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Part I Japanese Carpenters and the Wood They Employ.............................................................................................................. 5
1. Miya-daiku, Temple and Shrine Carpenters ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Large-Diameter Domestic Timber for Temples and Shrines............................................................................................. 9
Substitutes for Large-Diameter Hinoki Cypress......................................................................................................................... 15
2. Sukiya-daiku, Carpenters of Refined Teahouses and Residences ................................................................................ 23
Chashitsu.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Finishing Techniques and Materials........................................................................................................................................................ 33
The Tokonoma................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 35
Wood Species of the Katsura Imperial Villa ................................................................................................................................... 41
3. Tateguya, Joiners of Doors, Windows, and Screens .................................................................................................................. 45
Techniques and Materials................................................................................................................................................................................... 47
Usage of the Outer Shirata Sapwood of Cedar ............................................................................................................................. 47
Usage of the Inner Akami Heartwood of Cedar.......................................................................................................................... 51
Fusuma and Byôbu Frames: Techniques and Wood Species ......................................................................................... 55
A Tsuitate............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 59
4. Daiku, General Carpenters................................................................................................................................................................................... 63
The Kamiseya Farmhouse................................................................................................................................................................................... 65
A Weaver’s House from the Kiso District.......................................................................................................................................... 69
A Kyoto Machiya......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 75
Part II Facsimiles of Thirty-Two Pages from the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook.................................. 79
Epilogue.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................114
Appendices......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................115
Names of Timber, Trees, and Plants Used in Traditional Japanese Architecture..............................................116
Complete List of Woods Mentioned in the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook...................................................118
Maps of Old Japanese Provinces and Modern Japanese Prefectures.............................................................................121
Glossary..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................123
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................126
Index of Timber and Tree Names..........................................................................................................................................................................128

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

1

Introduction

Although numerous publications have noted the rich variety of wood species used in theconstruction of Japan's civil and religious structures, few have focused on the wood itself. This
book hopes to make up for that deficiency by drawing attention to the wood species used by Japan's
carpenters, who so ingeniously exploit the extraordinary diversity of their country's forest resources.
By focusing on carpenters and their creations, this book complements my previous publication,
Wood and Traditional Woodworking in Japan1, which explored the various techniques employedin the fields of joinery, carving, turning, bending, and, to a small extent, carpentry. In that book I
pointed out that wood selection was guided by aesthetic, symbolic, and religious factors, as well as
by considerations of mechanical and physical properties and local availability. One appendix detailed
the Japanese vernacular names of wood species, their scientific names, and their English, French,and German names, while another furnished a four-language glossary which defined four hundred
woodworking terms used by Japanese craftsmen.
The interest shown in that pioneering workon Japanese woodworkers encouraged me toexpand my study of Japanese wood species
X
to include the field of construction. Daiku, or
carpenters, play a key role in the selection ofRTwood species used in construction. In Japanthey are differentiated according to their area ofexpertise. Miya-daiku, for example, specialize intemple and shrine construction, while sukiyaXdaiku craft the refined teahouses and tearooms
T
known as chashitsu. Although not actuallycarpenters, tateguya are considered to bemembers of the same professional guild. These
joiners carry out the construction of doors,sliding doors, folding screens, partitioning Figure 1. The cutting direction, relative to the tree
trunk, determines what type of grain the wood will
screens, and window frames. In addition to these
display:highly specialized carpenters, there are others
X: a transverse, or cross, section, which produces a
koguchi end grain.
who specialize in the construction of simpler
R: a radial section, which produces a masame
folk dwellings called minka. These include
straight grain.
farmhouses (nôka), mountain dwellings (sanka),
T: a tangential section, which produces an itame flatand traditional townhouses (machiya)2.
sawn grain.
(Based on Hoadley, 1990, p. 12.)

1 Kaiseisha Press, Ôtsu, Japan. 1st English ed., 2011; 2nd English ed., 2016. Japanese ed., 2016.
2 JAANUS.

2

Introduction

It may be helpful here to note how certain
techniques are employed to obtain various aesthetic
effects. Object-orientated cutting, for one, plays anespecially important role in bringing out certain
desirable visual effects. The cutting direction –transverse, radial, or tangential – relative to the tree
trunk is of crucial importance (fig. 1). By using acertain cutting direction, for example, the carpentercan reveal an eye-catching, expressive grain. The
impressive pillars of the Amida Hall of Kyoto's Nishi
Hongan-ji Temple (fig. 2) provide a good example.
Cutting in another direction, however, can produce
the kind of discrete wood grain generally favoredfor use in tearooms, where its subtle beauty will beappreciated by the attentive or initiated observer.
Japan's rich forest resources form the basis for its
renowned woodworking fields and explain why theJapanese claim to possess a ‘culture of wood’. Thisnational self-image was evidenced by the manner
Figure 2. Expressive grain of Japanese zelkova
in which Japan, soon after the Meiji Restoration of (keyaki) on a pillar of Nishi Hongan-ji Temple’s
Amida Hall, Kyôto.
1868, sought to represent itself at World Exhibitions.
The nation's new government was offered an
opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities to the world in January 1872, when Heinrich Ritter vonCalice, Austria's first accredited ambassador to Japan, invited Emperor Meiji to participate in the
Vienna World Exhibition.3 The invitation was accepted, and an Exhibition Bureau (Hakurankai
Jimukyoku4) was soon created in order to prepare for the event.
By participating, the new nation hoped to achieve five main objectives: 1) attain internationalrecognition, 2) obtain information about other countries' products and technologies, 3) learn how
to establish museums and hold expositions, 4) build recognition of, and a market for, Japanese
products, and 5) survey other countries' levels of production, prices, and needs.5
Emphasis was placed on promoting the nation's natural resources, as well as its skills. Allprovinces were ordered to send the Exhibition Bureau reports on, and samples of, their local
specialties. Meanwhile, in 1872, an official team surveyed the country in a search for anything that
could be construed as constituting a ‘national treasure’.
At the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, Japan presented a list of 133 wood species in its official
catalog. 6 It also sent wood samples, some of which were quite large: three shaku, or ninety
centimeters, in size.7
3
4
5
6
7

Zorn 2015, p. 46.
Barna, 2015, pp. 20–30.
Tanaka 1964, pp. 7–14.
Japanische Ausstellungs-Commission, pp. 22–26.
It is interesting to note that the Japanese team organizing the preparation for the Exhibition included
Heinrich and Alexander von Siebold, sons of the well-known German physician and botanist, Philipp Franz
von Siebold.

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

7

1. Miya-daiku, Temple and Shrine Carpenters

Kasuga Gongen Genki picture scroll (1309). Photo from the National Diet Library Digital Collections.

1. Miya-daiku, Temple and Shrine Carpenters

9Large-Diameter Domestic Timber for Temples and Shrines
The miya-daiku is in charge of large-scale constructions characterized by many round or squarepillars surmounted by bracket complexes consisting of bearing blocks called masu and bracket arms
called hijiki. Set on top of hashira (pillars), these eave-supporting bracket complexes are called tokyôor masugumi1 (fig. 1–1 and fig. 1–2).
As long as its supply lasted, the preferred timber species for such large-scale constructions
as temples, shrines, palaces, and grand residences was hinoki cypress, a wood characterized bya pleasant scent, a very light, almost white color, strength, and resistance to humidity and decay(fig. 1–3 A+B). Another of its desirable characteristics is a fine, straight grain that allows it to beconverted by means of wedge-assisted longitudinal splitting (fig. 1–5 A). Especially suited to thistechnique, hinoki had been converted in this manner since ancient times.
However, the reconstruction of Kyoto that took place following the Onin no Ran2 caused the
supply of large-diameter hinoki to dwindle, and, had it not been for the oga, a ripsaw that allowed
wood to be cut lengthwise along the grain, progress would have been stymied. A two-man frame saw(fig. 1–5 B) that had been introduced to Japan from China in the fifteenth century, the oga made it
possible to convert keyaki (fig. 1–4 A+B) and such other non-cleavable timber such as Japanese redpine (akamatsu) and Japanese black pine (kuromatsu) to be used to rebuild the large Kyoto temples
that had burned. In the sixteenth century the Japanese invention of the maebiki-oga (fig. 1–6 A+B),
a wide-blade ripsaw operated by just one person, provided another tool that enabled conversion of
non-cleavable timber.
Higashi Hongan-ji Temple's enormous Japanese zelkova beams (fig. 1–4 C) testify to the
oga's efficiency. The wood was transported from the forests of Toyama and Niigata Prefectures.
(Keyaki from northern areas has the advantage of being more warp-resistant.) Pine (matsu, mainly
akamatsu) and hinoki cypress were used for the smaller parts further up in the roof.
Before the ravages of the Onin no Ran, however, cleavable hinoki was the wood of choice forlarge-scale construction. Constructed in 1227, the Main Hall of Daihō'on-ji Temple (popularly
known as Senbon Shaka-dō) is one of the few structures in Kyoto that survived the devastation that
occurred in the second half of the fifteenth century. One of its pillars – made from hinoki – still bears
sword and spear gashes from that tumultuous period (fig. 1–3 B).

1 Coaldrake, 1990, p. 16, JAANUS.
2 A period of civil strife that lasted from 1467 to 1477.

10Part I Japanese Carpenters and the Wood They Employ

Figure 1–3 A. Main Hall of Kyôto's Daihô-on-ji Temple, a.k.a. Senbon Shaka-dô,founded 1227. Photo: Alexandre Joly.

Figure 1–3 B. Battle scars left by the Onin no Ran on
hinoki cypress pillar at Kyôto's Daihô-on-ji Temple, a.k.a.
Senbon Shaka-dô. Photo: Alexandre Joly.

23

2. Sukiya-daiku, Carpenters of Refined Teahouses andResidences

Toko-bashira and secondary construction pillars.

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

2. Sukiya-daiku, Carpenters of Refined Teahouses and Residences25

The sukiya-daiku is in charge of the construction of chashitsu, rooms or small houses in which
the tea ceremony is performed, and of refined wooden houses or residences, which often contain achashitsu. The use of plain wood and the absence of decoration are the chief characteristics of thesekinds of buildings.

Chashitsu
Tearooms, or chashitsu, come in several sizes and styles. Two excellent examples are Keijaku-an
and Isui-tei (fig. 2–1 A), which, along with a waiting pavilion named Nyohô-tei (fig. 2–5), are locatedon the grounds of HakusasonsÔ, the garden complex completed in 1916 by painter, Hashimoto
Kansetsu.
Although smaller tearooms do exist, an ordinary-sized one is a yojôhan, meaning that it contains
four and a half tatami mats.1 A tearoom such as Keijaku-an (figs. 2–2 A–E), which consists of fourand a half mats, is considered to be a koma, as opposed to larger chashitsu, called hiroma, that can
range in size from four and a half to as many as eighteen mats. Six-mat Isui-tei (fig. 2–3) is one such
hiroma2.
Some chashitsu are described as being shoin, or formal, in style, while others are considered sôan,or rustic. The level of a chashitsu's formality – whether formal, semi-formal, or informal – plays animportant role in determining the wood species and other material to be selected and the manner inwhich they will be processed.
Sukiya-daiku use a variety of refined materials and wood species that demand elaborate finishingtechniques. This is especially true of anything connected with the tokonoma, or alcove. The tokobashira, the alcove's central decorative pillar, is usually made of precious wood, as are its tokogamachi (bottom frame) and otoshi-gake (lintel).

1 The standard Kyoto tatami mat is 191 centimeters long, 95 centimeters wide, and 5 centimeters thick.
2 See JAANUS.

26

Part I Japanese Carpenters and the Wood They Employ

Figure 2–1 B. Bamboo gutter along the edge of Keijaku-an's hiwadabuki (hinoki cypress bark) roof.
Photo: Alexandre Joly.

Figure 2–1 C. Yoshino-sugi bark on the rear wall of Keijaku-an. Photo: Alexandre Joly.

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

45

3. Tateguya, Joiners of Doors, Windows, and Screens

A tsuitate. Photo: Benoît Jenn.

3. Tateguya, Joiners of Doors, Windows, and Screens

47

Techniques and Materials
Tateguya specialize in interior finishing. They craft the paper-covered sliding doors called shôji,
the sliding doors known as fusuma, and the folding screens called byôbu. They also manufacture
freestanding partitioning screens (tsuitate), wooden doors (itado), and shelves (tana).
The wood most frequently used for sliding doors and folding screens is Japanese cedar (sugi),
especially the narrow-grained Yoshino-sugi found in Nara Prefecture. Its whitish outer shirata
sapwood is used to make the lattice-like inner structure of sliding doors and folding screens.
Compared to the reddish inner akami heartwood (fig. 3–1), shirata contains almost no resin. Using
it rather than the akami thus ensures that resin will not stain the screen's paper covering or painted
surface. This inner structure, called a shitaji-bone, is made of vertical and horizontal strips of wood
(fig. 3–2 A + B). Boards made from magnolia wood (hônoki) are inserted into it, into which handpulls, or hikite (fig. 3–2 C), which facilitate opening and closing, are then set.

Usage of the Outer Shirata Sapwood of Cedar
Sliding doors and folding screens are sometimes valuable art objects in themselves, and, as such,are handled with the utmost care when exhibited and when put into, or taken out of, storage.
Consisting of multiple joined panels, byôbu can vary in size. The standard screen consists of six
panels and is approximately one and a half meters high and, when fully opened, three and a half
meters long.
Fusuma are sometimes covered with thick printed paper called karakami. Or they can becovered with silk or with another valuable kind of fabric. They can serve as canvases for famous
artists (fig. 3–3) and feature valuable paintings. Byôbu are displayed to celebrate a specific ceremonyor occasion, to mark the seasons (fig. 3–4), or simply to divide a room. Once they have served their
purpose, they will be carefully stored.
Because byôbu are made of such natural materials as Japanese paper, silk, cloth, pigments, starch,and nikawa (a glue-like substance made from the bones and skin of animals or fish), they are fragile
and can be easily damaged by insects or the elements. The same is true of their sapwood skeleton.
They thus require the kind of careful maintenance that includes periodic airings and inspections
called mushiboshi and must be repaired or restored on a regular basis.

Part I Japanese Carpenters and the Wood They Employ

48

A
A
B
C
D
E
F

B
C
D
E
F

A
B
C
D

Figure 3–2 A. Shitaji-bone for sliding doors. They are made from Japanese cedar sapwood.
E
Magnolia-wood boards, into which hand pulls called hikite will eventually be fitted, have alreadyFbeen set into them.
B. Close-up of the whitish sapwood that makes up a shitaji-bone.
C. Close-up of magnolia-wood board piece into which a hikite, or hand pull, will be inserted.
Photos: Usui Hiroaki.

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

63

4. Daiku, General Carpenters

The Kiso House, Musée de l'Homme, Paris.

4. Daiku, General Carpenters

65

In addition to the highly specialized carpenters dealt with previously, there are others, known
simply as daiku, who are in charge of the construction of folk dwellings called minka. A generalterm, minka can refer to nôka (farmhouses), sanka (mountain dwellings), or to houses occupied
by practitioners of specific trades, for example weavers. Daiku also craft the townhouses known as
machiya.
Traditionally, minka were built by local daiku with assistance from the community. As they
worked, daiku used local materials, labor, and skills and faithfully adhered to the architectural styles
and forms dictated by each region's lifestyle. Because such features tended to change very slowly
from one period to another, minka are rich in local color, blend very well with the landscape, andretain a variety of regional structural characteristics.1 A farmhouse in the Tango Peninsula eighty
kilometers north of Kyoto, a weaver's house in Nagano Prefecture's Kiso district, and a traditional
townhouse in Kyoto furnish good examples of the handiwork of daiku.

The Kamiseya Farmhouse
Built in the 1940s in Kamiseya, a village located in a mountainous area of the Tango Peninsula,
the Kamiseya Farmhouse illustrates sustainable wood usage. As such, it serves as a particularly good
example of a traditional Japanese farmhouse, or nôka. A two-storied structure, it has a kayabuki
thatched roof covered with broad-leaf bamboo grass, or sasa – a very rare roof type, but typical of its
region (fig. 4–1). Damaged by a fire in 1944, the house was abandoned and then fell into ruin. The
house's owner permitted a research team from Kyoto's Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
under the leadership of ecologist Yumoto Takakazu and forest scientist Oku Hirokazu to investigate
the house's wooden composition. Microscopic wood identification2 of all its wooden parts was donein order to study the criteria that had governed wood selection (fig. 4–2).
The wood had been selected to serve one of three structural functions:
1. Pillars and beams. These composed the main structure of the building, and for the most part
had been constructed of large conifers and wood species with specific properties, such as
hardness. The wood species most commonly used was two-leaf pine (ni-yô matsu), followed by
Japanese chestnut (kuri), Japanese cedar (sugi), and hinoki cypress.
2. Pegs. Used for joining the structural timber parts, these elements must be made from a very
hard wood, such as the Japanese evergreen oak (akagashi), and this was indeed the woodspecies found to have been used the most. Other species that had been utilized were Japanesechestnut and Japanese cedar.
3. Roof rafters. Tied together with rope, they had been made from small diameter broadleaves
obtained from the peripheral satoyama, the secondary forest surrounding the village. The maintree species used was Japanese chestnut. Hornbeam (shide), Japanese deciduous oak (konara),
two-leaf pine (ni-yô matsu), and several other small-diameter wood species had also been
1 JAANUS.
2 Wood Identifications were carried out by Professor Sugiyama Junji and his team at Kyoto University's
Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere.

このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

79Part II
Facsimiles of Thirty-Two Pages from theYûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook

The front cover of the YuyÔ Mokuzai ShÔran.

80

Part II Facsimiles of Thirty-Two Pages from the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook

This part consists of actual size facsimiles of thirty-two pages photographed by Alexandre Joly,
taken from the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran, a handbook illustrating Japanese wood species that was
created for the 1876 Philadelphia and the 1878 Paris World Exhibitions.
The handbook's introduction explains that large tree trunks are used for architectural
construction and shipbuilding, while tables, chairs, boxes, containers, and even smaller objects
such as combs, chopsticks, and abaci, are made from wood of lesser dimensions. It laments thattransportation difficulties render it unfeasible to introduce and exhibit large samples of Japan's
most commonly utilized wood species. ‘To compensate,’ the introduction explains, ‘we have glued
thin sections – cut length-wise and cross-wise – of as many wood species as possible into this small
volume.’From all wood's production areas, only the most famous production places are given, the first
listed being the one that provided the handbook's wood sample.
The handbook also makes note of the way in which each wood species is used. Ken 建(construction), for example, indicates that the wood is used for architectural construction; sen
船 (ship) denotes that it is used for shipbuilding or naval construction; and ki 器 (implements)
designates that the wood is suitable for making tables, chairs, boxes, and containers. The handbook
also explains that yanagi (willow) is used for game boards, utsugi (deutzia) for wooden nails, andhakuyô (poplar) for Japanese sweets skewers.
The introduction concludes by stating that family names – which the handbook terms ‘ordo’(order) – have been taken from De Candolle1's taxonomic system and refers readers to his Théorie
elémentaire de la botanique.2
Each wood species is represented by actual wood samples that have been thinly sliced intransverse, radial, and tangential sections and glued onto a single page.
The transverse, or cross, section is pasted at the top, while the radial and tangential sections
appear at the bottom. The heading lists the standard Japanese name in roman letters, the scientificspecies name, and finally the family (order) name. On the right hand side of the page, the handbook
makes note, in Japanese, of non-standard local names, distribution areas, and uses. For certain woodspecies, the handbook editors provide an additional comment. Distribution areas are not identified
in accordance with the modern Japanese prefectural system; instead, pre-Meiji-era administrative
province names are used.3

1 Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, 1778–1841.
2 The scientific species nomenclature is based on the taxonomic system established by the Swiss botanist
Augustin Pyrame de Candolle (1778–1841) and refers explicitly to his important work Théorie élémentairede la botanique, ou exposition des principes de la classification naturelle et de l'art de décrire et d'etudier lesvégétaux published in 1813.
3 The Japanese authors were perhaps inspired by German forestry professor Hermann Nördlinger (1818–
1897), who published a series of volumes entitled Querschnitte von hundert Holzarten (Cross sections of one
hundred wood species). Rather than printed images, the volumes contained thin cross sections of genuine
wood mounted on sheets of paper. 11 volumes, each containing 100 cross sections, were published between
1852 and 1888. [IAWA Journal, Vol. 29 (4), 2008, pp. 439–457.] The Handbook in the author’s possession
contained a letter written by Nördlinger in 1888 to Supreme Forestry Advisor Probst in which he alludes tothe Handbook.

Part II Facsimiles of Thirty-Two Pages from the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook

81

The following list denotes the thirty-two selected wood species, the handbook number, andits scientific name in the handbook. The list is completed by the current scientific name and theEnglish name.
Handbook
Number
1
2
3
7
8
9
10

SUGI (ACAMI)SUGI (SHIRATA)YAKU-SUGIHINOKISAWARAHIBANEDZUKO

13
14

AKA-MATSU
KURO-MATSU

16

KARA-MATSU

21

TSUGA

23
29
33

MOMI
AKA-GASHIKUNUGI35

KONARA

36

KURI

41
42
44
45

YANAGIYAMANARASHI
SORO, also SHIDEKEYAKI

47
56
57

KUWA
HÔNOKIKATSURA

59

KIRI

61
67
68
70
75
82
84
95

KIWADA
KAKI
KURO-GAKIMUMETOCHINOKIYENJUTSUBAKI
SARU-SUBERI

Japanese namescientific name in the handbook(current name)
CRYPTOMERIA JAPONICA
CRYPTOMERIA JAPONICA
CRYPTOMERIA JAPONICA
CHAMAECYPARIS OBTUSACHAMAECYPARIS PISIFERATHUJOPSIS DOLABRATATHUJOPSIS LAETEVIRENS(THUYA STANDISHII)PINUS DENSIFLORA
PINUS MASSONIANA(PINUS THUNBERGII)PSEUDOLARIX KAEMPFERI(LARIX KAEMPFERI)ABIES TSUGA(TSUGA SIEBOLDII)ABIES FIRMAQUERCUS ACUTAQUERCUS SERRATA(QUERCUS ACUTISSIMA)QUERCUS CRISPULA(QUERCUS SERRATA)CASTANEA VULGARIS(CASTANEA CRENATA)
SALIX JAPONICA
POPULUS SIEBOLDIICARPINUS SP.
PLANERA JAPONICA(ZELKOVA SERRATA)
MORUS ALBAMAGNOLIA HYPOLEUCACERCIDIPHYLLUM JAPONICUM
PAULOWNIA IMPERIALIS(PAULOWNIA TOMENTOSA)
PHELLODENDRON AMURENSEDIOSPYROS KAKI
DIOSPYROS KAKIPRUNUS MUMEAESCULUS TURBINATA
SOPHORA JAPONICACAMELLIA JAPONICA
LAGERSTROEMIA INDICA

English name
Japanese cedar (heartwood)
Japanese cedar (sapwood)
Yakushima cedar
hinoki cypress
sawara cyoresshiba arborvitae
Japanese thuja
Japanese red pine
Japanese black pine
Japanese larch
Japanese hemlock
Japanese fir
Japanese evergreen oaksawtooth oakJapanese deciduous oakJapanese chestnut
willow
poplarhornbeam
Japanese zelkova
mulberrybigleaf magnolia
katsura tree
foxglove tree, paulownia, royal paulownia
Amur cork-tree
Japanese persimmon
black persimmon
Japanese apricot
Japanese horse-chestnut
pagoda tree
Japanese camellia
crape myrtle

82Part II Facsimiles of Thirty-Two Pages from the Yûyô Mokuzai Shôran Handbook

No. 1 SUGI (heartwood)

Local name: sugi 杉
Uses: architectural construction, implements, shipbuilding
Distribution: Kii, Kumano, Shingû, Yamato, Tosa, Mikawa, Tôtômi, Satsuma, Iwaki, Ugoこのプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

123

Glossary
Rômajiabura
aite-bashiraakami
ate-sabimaruta

油
相手柱
赤身
档錆丸太

Kanji

azumaya

四阿

bengarabyôbu
chashitsu
chôjiboku,
chôna
daiku
debushi

弁柄
屏風
茶室
停止木
手斧、釿
大工
出節

fuchi
fujizuru
fuki-urushi
fusumaganryô
hakubutsukan
Hakurankai
Jimukyoku
harihashirahata
hegi-itahegu
hijikihikitehinoki-sabimaruta

縁
藤蔓
拭漆
襖
顔料
博物館
博覧会事務局

hiromahisashiitado
itame
ji-matsu
juhikabedome
kake-amado
kaki-shibukami-zan
Kansai

広間
廂
板戸
板目
地松
樹皮
壁止め
掛け雨戸
柿渋
上桟
関西

梁
柱
機
剥板
剥ぐ
肘木
引手
檜錆丸太

Englishoil
secondary post or pillar
heartwood‘rusty hiba log’, a decorticated hiba log on which dark mold spots have been
allowed to form in order to impart a rustic quality
thatch-roofed, rustic hut found in rural areas during the Asuka, Nara, andHeian periods, particularly in the eastern part of Japanbengala, red iron oxide, red pigment
folding screen
tearoom or detached teahouseprotected trees, trees banned from cuttingadzecarpentersmall protuberances on the surface of hiba logs created by neatly sawing off
small branches
sliding door frames
wisteria vine
‘wiped-off lacquer’ techniquepaper or silk-covered sliding door
pigments
museumWorld Fair Exhibition Bureaubeampillar, post
handloom
split board
to tear off, to peel off
bracket arm
hand pull‘rusty hinoki log’, a decorticated hinoki log on which dark mold spots havebeen allowed to form in order to impart a rustic quality
tea ceremony room larger than four and a half tatami mats in size
projecting roof
wooden door
flat-sawn grain
native or domestic pine
bark
post between two walls
suspended sliding storm shutter
persimmon extract
upper frame
region of western Honshu that includes the cities of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyotoこのプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

128

Index of Timber and Tree NamesA
abemaki (Chinese cork oak; Quercus variabilis) 35,
fig. 2–9

crape myrtle (sarusuberi, saru-suberi; Lagerstroemia
indica) 35, 81, 113
cypress (hinoki; Chamaecyparis obtusa) 9, 15, 35,
41, 55, 67, 69, 73, 75, 81, 85, figs. 1–3B, 10, 3–9, 10

Afurika-keyaki, apa (afzelia, doussie; Afzelia spp.)– Formosan cypress (beni-hinoki, beni-hi;
Chamaecyparis formosensis) 15, fig. 1–8– Kiso cypress (Bishû-hinoki; Chamaecyparis
obtusa) 69, fig. 4–7– sawara cypress (sawara; Chamaecyparis
pisifera) 41, 69, 73, 81, 86, fig. 4–5C
– Taiwan cypress (Taiwan-hinoki, Tai-hi;
Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana) 15,

15

afzelia, doussie (Afurika-keyaki, apa; Afzelia spp.)
15

akagashi (Japanese evergreen oak; Quercus acuta)
65, 81, 94

akamatsu (red pine; Pinus densiflora) 9, 35, 75, 81,
89, figs. 2–6, 4–8C

Amerika-togasawara, beimatsu (Douglas fir, Oregonpine; Pseudotsuga menziesii) 75
Amur cork tree (kihada, kiwada; Phellodendron
amurense) 81, 106
apricot (ume; Prunus mume) 35, 81, 109
asunaro, hiba (hiba arborvitae; Thujopsis dolabrata)

35, 41, 69, 73, 81, 87, fig. 4–6
ate (hiba arborvitae; Thujopsis dolabrata) 35, fig.
2–6

Bbeimatsu, Amerika-togasawara (Douglas fir, Oregonpine; Pseudotsuga menziesii) 75
beni-hinoki, beni-hi (Formosan cypress;
Chamaecyparis formosensis) 15, fig. 1–8
bigleaf magnolia, magnolia wood (hônoki; Magnolia
obovata) 47, 81, 103Bishû-hinoki (Kiso cypress; Chamaecyparis obtusa)
69, fig. 4–7

C
camellia (tsubaki; Camellia japonica) 35, 81, 112
cedar, cryptomeria (sugi; Cryptomeria japonica)
41, 47, 55, 65, 67, 75, 81, 82, 83, 114, fig. 3–9– Kitayama cedar (Kitayama-sugi; Cryptomeria
japonica) 35, 75, fig. 2–2A
– Yakushima cedar (Yaku-sugi; Cryptomeria
japonica) 81, 84– Yoshino cedar (Yoshino-sugi; Cryptomeria
japonica) 47, 51, figs. 3–5, 6
chestnut (kuri; Castanea crenata) 33, 35, 41, 65, 69,
73, 81, 97, figs. 2–8, 4–3, 5B

clethra (ryôbu; Clethra barbinervis) 35, fig. 2–7A

fig. 1–8

Ddeutzia (utsugi; Deutzia crenata) 80
Douglas fir, Oregon pine (beimatsu, Amerikatogasawara; Pseudotsuga menziesii) 75, 114E
ebony (kokutan; Diospyros ebenum) 33
enju (pagoda tree; Styphnolobium japonicum) 35,
81, 111

exotic wood, Chinawood (karaki) 33

F
fir (momi; Abies firma) 41, 81, 93
foxglove tree, paulownia (kiri; Paulownia
tomentosa) 55, 81, 105, figs. 3–9, 10Ggo-yô matsu (five-leaf pine; Pinus subgen.
Haploxylon) 41

Hhakuyô, yamanarashi (poplar; Populus sieboldii)
80, 99hemlock (tsuga; Tsuga sieboldii) 41, 81, 92
hiba arborvitae (asunaro, hiba, ate; Thujopsis
dolabrata) 35, 41, 69, 73, 81, 87, figs. 2–6, 4–6
hinoki (cypress, Japanese cypress; Chamaecyparis
obtusa) 9, 15, 35, 41, 55, 67, 69, 73, 75, 81, 85, figs.
1–3B, 10, 3–9, 10

hônoki (bigleaf magnolia, magnolia wood; Magnolia
obovata) 47, 81, 103このプレビューでは表示されない頁があります。

Japanese Wood and Carpentry
Rustic and Refined

本書のHP

発 行 日 ―――― 2020 年 2 月 15 日 初版第１刷
定価 ―――― カバーに表示してあります。

著者 ―――― メヒティル・メルツ（Mechtild Mertz）

発 行 者 ―――― 宮 内久● Copyright © 2020 ISBN978－4－86099－367－2

海青社
Kaiseisha Press〒520－0112 大津市日吉台2丁目16－4
Tel. 077－577－2677 Fax. 077－577－2688
http: //www.kaiseisha-press.ne.jp/
郵便振替 01090－1－17991

C3072 ● Printed in Japan ● 乱丁落丁はお取り替えいたします。

● 本書のコピー、スキャン、デジタル化等の無断複製は著作権法上での例外を除き禁じられています。

本書を代行業者等の第三者に依頼してスキャンやデジタル化することはたとえ個人や家庭内の利用でも著作権法違反です。