Stepping Back in Time: Hewing Japanese Cedar (Sugi) the Traditional Japanese Carpentry Way

Traditional Japanese Carpentry - Chouna (Adze) and Ono (Axe) Lesson

In this video, we go to Gifu, Japan where we visit Mr. Araki who offered to teach young carpenters a traditional Japanese woodworking technique using two useful tools. We used the Chouna (or Adze) which is a very sharp cupped bladed tool that takes divets of wood from the surface. This tool comes in a variety of types, we used several different types of Chouna while we were there. Some are used for finishing surfaces of wood for decorative purposes and some are for flattening boards to make them useful for carpentry work. The second tool we used was the Ono which is a Japanese axe that was used long ago by carpenters who had to remove the bark from trees to prevent the timber from rotting and help them dry easier. In this part of Japan, the Ono is called a Yoki and it is used to remove the bark from timber and also make straight cuts. Long ago, trees were felled in the forest and then a Yoki was used to remove the bark so that they can be transported back to the carpenter's shop. This was a lot of heavy work.

For 3 days the carpenters from the Fujimoto Traditional Carpentry Company labored away at the freshly felled trees in preparation for naturally drying them for a year. The work was very rewarding in the end. It was nice to see the finished products of this difficult work. It brought a perspective of what life was like back then. Also, in this video, you will see some of my coworkers that I have been working with for the past year. These young carpenters have given me an opportunity to work side by side with them to learn as much as I can about Japanese traditional carpentry.

Special Thanks to:
Mr. Araki
Fujimoto Traditional Carpentry Company
#woodworking #japanesewoodworking #carpentrylife
Videographers:
K. Yamashita / G. Leopardi

Video Editing:
K. Yamashita

Equipment Used:
Olympus OMD EM-1 Mark iii (4k)
Sony ZV Log Camera (4k)