[HN Gopher] An overview of modern Japanese wood construction (20...
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An overview of modern Japanese wood construction (2004) [pdf]
Author : revolucien
Score : 161 points
Date : 2023-02-24 08:31 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.forum-holzbau.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.forum-holzbau.com)
| nwatson wrote:
| Incidentally, typical Japanese homes last 30 years and then are
| rebuilt: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-
| reusabl...
| ofalkaed wrote:
| 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.
| twobitshifter wrote:
| Japan is experiencing rapid growth?
| SapporoChris wrote:
| Maybe, maybe not.
| https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/ja...
| makeitdouble wrote:
| 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.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| 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.
| bloopernova wrote:
| 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
| pimlottc wrote:
| That honestly looks super fun and satisfying to assemble!
| mauvehaus wrote:
| 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?
| brianfryer wrote:
| 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.
| ofalkaed wrote:
| 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.
| blacksqr wrote:
| The Japanese House: A Tradition for Contemporary Architecture
| by Heinrich Engel
|
| https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/424932
| pessimizer wrote:
| 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.
| ReleaseCandidat wrote:
| 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
|
| Mu Zu Zhan ouchidemiyuziamu/Zhu Zhong Da Gong Dao Ju Guan [Mu Zu
| minoJia /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
| giantg2 wrote:
| 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.
| ofalkaed wrote:
| 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.
| MrBuddyCasino wrote:
| Pretty much everything you get at the hardware store is
| overpriced junk, including and especially wood. Try to find a
| different source.
| akiselev wrote:
| Except 2x4 framing, which is often a loss leader to get
| contractors in the door.
| deelowe wrote:
| 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.
| sctb wrote:
| 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)
| scott_s wrote:
| I have also recently discovered his channel. It is a joy to
| watch him work.
| arthurofbabylon wrote:
| Further rabbit-hole source material...
|
| https://www.interactiongreen.com/kuma-kengo-louvers/
| kioshix wrote:
| 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.
| vram22 wrote:
| From HN:
|
| Beginning Woodworking
|
| http://woodgears.ca/beginner/
|
| Interesting thread that also talks about Japanese saws and their
| pros and cons.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| 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.
| kleiba wrote:
| What are you trying to say?
| AtlasBarfed wrote:
| 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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