Visit to Tategu Joiner’s Workshop

 

We visited a Tategu joiner’s workshop located at a five-minute walk from Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station in Koto city.

The signboard of the workshop

What is Tategu? Tategu is architectural fittings such as sliding doors and partition screens, which is an essential part of traditional Japanese wooden houses. It requires a lot of fine work and connections of wooden parts are made mortise and tenons without using nails.

Mr. Tomokuni talking about a screen with Kumiko patterns

 

Mr. Tomokuni, the Tategu joiner we met there, is designated as a prominent craftsman (great craftsman in the present world) by the Japanese government. One of his important works is sliding doors at the Pine Teahouse (Matsu no Ochaya)” in Hamarikyu Gardens, a national special scenic spot and a special historic site.

At the workshop, Mr. Tomokuni talked about Tategu including its materials, tools, techniques etc. His talk was very interesting and fun. We felt his pride as a craftsman and his warm personality at the same time from his talk. He said that Tategu joiners’ names are not written on most of their works, but excellent techniques are used invisibly and should be kept even under the situation of decreasing demands for traditional wooden fittings.

Various planes

 Mr.Tomokuni instructs a member of KEV trying to plane a board

The craftsman’s hands

We experienced to make a Kumiko coaster by fabricating fine and thin pieces of wood already prepared by Mr. Tomokuni. Kumiko is a technique of fine woodworking to decorate sliding doors or screens. The geometric pattern formed on the coaster is called “Masu tsunagi”, or “linked square measuring boxes”, which means a pray for prosperity. According to Mr. Tomokuni, there are more than 200 traditional patterns with auspicious meanings for Kumiko and many of them came from patterns used on Japanese clothes.

A beautiful example of Kumiko woodworking

fine wooden pieces for the coaster	the coaster with “linked square measuring boxes” pattern

Some examples of Kumiko patterns

We learned a lot about Tategu from this visit and took the coaster home carefully.

 

Are you interested in the world of fine woodworks? KEV is happy to arrange a tour to the workshop including an experience of making a Kumiko coaster.        
By Nobuko