As the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games demonstrated, one of the native traditions of which Japan is proudest is carpentry. For millennia, its carpenters have built elegant, functional structures. While highly complex, they are perfectly adapted to their environments, and indicative of years of careful consideration.
Kigumi Museum in Waseda celebrates the carpenter's craft, particularly kigumi (木組み, interlocking wooden joints). Constructing wooden buildings with interlocking wooden joints instead of nails and screws is a real art. It is one of Japan’s most distinctive contributions to world woodcraft and this museum is the ideal place to appreciate it.
Photo by George Lloyd
Kigumi Museum is very much a hands-on museum: visitors are encouraged to handle the exhibits, take them apart, and put them back together again. The interlocking wooden joints are ingenious, using the character of the wood to give buildings both strength and the flexibility they need to withstand the earthquakes to which Japan is so prone.
The museum shows the great lengths to which Japanese carpenters have gone to understand the nature of wood, working out which parts of the tree are best suited to what purpose, the difference between trees grown on hilltops and those grown in valleys, and when best to fell a tree (the passage of the moon affects the water content of a tree's trunk, which in turn makes it easier or harder to cut down).
Photo by George Lloyd
Kigumi Museum is small, so it is unlikely to take more than an hour of your time, but it packs in a lot of information. As well as examples of different styles and shapes of wooden joints, you can also inspect various types of wood used in construction, both sample swatches, and actual logs.
The museum's second room covers more general aspects of the carpenter's trade, with exhibits devoted to the tools used, traditional nails, and ornamental carving. You can also see detailed models of sakan (左官 plastering techniques) and urushi (漆 lacquerware). Most of the exhibits are pretty self-explanatory, but there's an English-language pamphlet that explains the basics.
Photo by George Lloyd
After your visit, it's well worth stopping by Ana Hachimangū Shrine (穴八幡宮) to see how these techniques have been put into practice, as it is only a couple of minutes' walk from the museum.
Photo by George Lloyd
The current buildings at Ana Hachimagū are post-war but there has been a Shinto shrine on the site since 1062. Keep an eye out for the shrine's beautiful wooden rōmon (楼門, two-storied gate) which houses two statues of guardian deities. Look up into the timbers and you'll recognise some of the joints on display in the museum.
Photo by George Lloyd
It's worth having a good look around Ana Hachimangū, as it really is one of Tokyo's most beautiful shrines. The haiden (拝殿 hall of worship) is where you go to pray and is painted black and gold. The korō (鼓楼 drum tower) is where the drum is housed. Until modern times, the people of Waseda would have kept time by the sound of this drum, which was beaten to mark the hour.
Ana Hachimangū sees most visitors on the day of the winter solstice when the shrine’s ichiyō raifuku omamori (一陽来復お守り) goes on sale. This is a charm, available only at midnight on either the first day of the winter solstice, New Year’s Eve, or Setsubun 節分 (the last day of winter). Hang one high up on the wall of a room facing the ehō (恵方 lucky direction) and it will bring you luck with money and business prosperity.
Kigumi Museum is at 2-3-36 Nishi-waseda. Admission is free. Note that the museum is open only three days a week (Tuesday to Thursday) and the first Saturday of each month. For more details, see the museum's website, or call the museum on 03-3209-0430.
Ana Hachimangū is at 2-1-11, Nishi-waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, a 2-minute walk from Waseda subway station.
As the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games demonstrated, one of the native traditions of which Japan is proudest is carpentry. For millennia, its carpenters have built elegant, functional structures. While highly complex, they are perfectly adapted to their environments, and indicative of years of careful consideration.
Kigumi Museum in Waseda celebrates the carpenter's craft, particularly kigumi (木組み, interlocking wooden joints). Constructing wooden buildings with interlocking wooden joints instead of nails and screws is a real art. It is one of Japan’s most distinctive contributions to world woodcraft and this museum is the ideal place to appreciate it.
Photo by George Lloyd
Kigumi Museum is very much a hands-on museum: visitors are encouraged to handle the exhibits, take them apart, and put them back together again. The interlocking wooden joints are ingenious, using the character of the wood to give buildings both strength and the flexibility they need to withstand the earthquakes to which Japan is so prone.
The museum shows the great lengths to which Japanese carpenters have gone to understand the nature of wood, working out which parts of the tree are best suited to what purpose, the difference between trees grown on hilltops and those grown in valleys, and when best to fell a tree (the passage of the moon affects the water content of a tree's trunk, which in turn makes it easier or harder to cut down).
Photo by George Lloyd
Kigumi Museum is small, so it is unlikely to take more than an hour of your time, but it packs in a lot of information. As well as examples of different styles and shapes of wooden joints, you can also inspect various types of wood used in construction, both sample swatches, and actual logs.
The museum's second room covers more general aspects of the carpenter's trade, with exhibits devoted to the tools used, traditional nails, and ornamental carving. You can also see detailed models of sakan (左官 plastering techniques) and urushi (漆 lacquerware). Most of the exhibits are pretty self-explanatory, but there's an English-language pamphlet that explains the basics.
Photo by George Lloyd
After your visit, it's well worth stopping by Ana Hachimangū Shrine (穴八幡宮) to see how these techniques have been put into practice, as it is only a couple of minutes' walk from the museum.
Photo by George Lloyd
The current buildings at Ana Hachimagū are post-war but there has been a Shinto shrine on the site since 1062. Keep an eye out for the shrine's beautiful wooden rōmon (楼門, two-storied gate) which houses two statues of guardian deities. Look up into the timbers and you'll recognise some of the joints on display in the museum.
Photo by George Lloyd
It's worth having a good look around Ana Hachimangū, as it really is one of Tokyo's most beautiful shrines. The haiden (拝殿 hall of worship) is where you go to pray and is painted black and gold. The korō (鼓楼 drum tower) is where the drum is housed. Until modern times, the people of Waseda would have kept time by the sound of this drum, which was beaten to mark the hour.
Ana Hachimangū sees most visitors on the day of the winter solstice when the shrine’s ichiyō raifuku omamori (一陽来復お守り) goes on sale. This is a charm, available only at midnight on either the first day of the winter solstice, New Year’s Eve, or Setsubun 節分 (the last day of winter). Hang one high up on the wall of a room facing the ehō (恵方 lucky direction) and it will bring you luck with money and business prosperity.
Kigumi Museum is at 2-3-36 Nishi-waseda. Admission is free. Note that the museum is open only three days a week (Tuesday to Thursday) and the first Saturday of each month. For more details, see the museum's website, or call the museum on 03-3209-0430.
Ana Hachimangū is at 2-1-11, Nishi-waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, a 2-minute walk from Waseda subway station.