page_title: Tsunekazu Nishioka
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Tsunekazu Nishioka / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Yakushi-ji is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Nara prefecture, Japan. It was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara". 日本語: 薬師寺は奈良県奈良市にある寺院。ユネスコ世界遺産「古都奈良の文化財」の一部。写真は玄奘三蔵院。
context_page_description: Tsunekazu Nishioka was a highly respected miyadaiku,
  a temple and shrine carpenter, and the Tōryō of Japanese Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine buildings.
  He was a stern teacher, and was given the nickname of oni, for the strictness of his words of guidance to colleagues and apprentices.
  Nishioka continued the ancient practices of construction and restoration used for historical temple buildings, and contributed to preserving the oldest existing wooden structures in the world.
  He devoted his life to the repair and restoration of the Buddhist temple buildings at Hōryū-ji, and the restoration of Yakushi-ji, and numerous other temples and pagodas in the region of modern-day Nara Prefecture.
context_section_description: Tsunekazu Nishioka was born on 4 September 1908, in the vicinity of Nishisato village, adjacent to the Buddhist temple compound of Hōryū-ji, Nara Prefecture. Both his grandfather, Tsunekichi Nishioka and father, Naramitsu Nishioka, were master carpenters (Tōryō, 棟梁) of Hōryū-ji.
  In early childhood, he was taken to Hōryū-ji by his grandfather and was cherished by the chief priest, Saeki Jyoin. 
  He fondly recounted that ‘I vividly remember having Castella cake and eating oranges given to me by Jyoin-san’. From an early age, he received excellent guidance in becoming a master carpenter.
  He worked at the temple during summer holidays from the 3rd grade of elementary school. ‘...At that time, the precincts of the temple was the perfect place for the children of Nishisato village to play. They often played baseball on the weekends. However, whenever I saw them playing from where I was working, I thought, ‘Why am I the only one to have to work as a carpenter’ and felt resentment’ he says.
  He was enrolled at Ikoma Agricultural School in 1921. His father planned for him to go to engineering school, but on the command of his grandfather, he went to agricultural school instead. When he had started school, his grandfather began to teach him the use of carpentry tools and woodwork techniques.
  After graduating in 1924, he became an apprentice carpenter. Following his years of training, he started his career as an independent carpenter from 1928, and participated in the repair and reconstruction of the temple buildings and compound (garan) at Hōryū-ji. From January 1929 to July 1930, he was enlisted in the heavy artillery regiment of the Japanese Imperial Army, and worked as a combat medic. After being discharged in 1932, he further studied architectural techniques in the repair work on the five-story pagoda at Hōryū-ji. He became the master carpenter (Tōryō  棟梁) of Hōryū-ji in 1934.
  As the flames of war expanded, Nishioka himself was caught in the war. In August 1937, he was drafted again as a combat medic.
  The reconstruction of the Main Hall (Kondō) of Yakushi-ji was introduced in a television program titled 'Project X’ on NHK. The carpenters practiced the revival of traditional tools who use had been increasingly abandoned, including the spear-headed plane (yariganna). Nishioka was given the name of ‘The Last Temple Carpenter’ for his dedication to pass the temple construction techniques that had been inherited from the Asuka era on to future generations of temple and shrine carpenters. He was honoured as a national cultural treasure, a person of cultural merit, an honorary townsperson of Ikaruga. His brother, Narajirou Nishioka, also supported his father and brother as a miyadaiku. His main apprentice was Mitsuo Ogawa.
  
  Nishioka died of cancer at the age of 86 on April 11, 1995.
caption: Yakushi-ji, Genjō-sanzō-in, Xuanzang Hall
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