Restoring a "ranma"

Great set of shots. Thanks for showing them. And I’m interested in seeing some of your home.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Jojo,
Do not apologize, the work is fascinating, thank you for sharing not only the pictures but the background as well.

-- Marge, Colorado

Tough project to restore Jojo. What does the “kanji” say? Good luck with it.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Jojo,

Not all woodworking projects start with raw lumber. Some start with a previously significant piece and end up with a still-significant, more beautiful piece. That’s some very nice work that I’m sure will be much appreciated.

Whit

-- Even if to be nothing more than a bad example, everything serves a purpose.

JoJo,
That is an interesting project and it appears that you rose to the occasion. Please do a blog and show us all about the homes in Japan. I for one am interested in the culture and the traditions. I’ve seen some very wonderful pieces of Japanese woodworking and a friend studied it while stationed in Japan in the Air Force. Show us more.
thanks
Tom

-- Thos. Angle

Very interesting indeed. I’d love to hear more as well.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Thank you for your kind comments folks.

You know, it’s though not having neither the place nor the powertools to be able to attack “real” projects, specially when one is surrounded by so many inspiring examples of great woorworking. I try to employ my time observing and learning and putting those future designs in paper so, once we’ll move stateside, I could make them happen. I also have access to a lot of great books on traditional carpentry and home design… and so it goes for my budget! :o)

Karson, Tom & Bob, I definitely will be posting a series on the traditional japanese homes once I get around to finish the last post on the ”matsuri” series. Let’s hope I stop procrastinating and start doing it this week. Methinks there’s not much to blog about though but it could very well might be that, along the last couple of years, I just got used to live in them… so I promise I’ll try to look at it again with the eyes of a newcomer.

Dadoo, I knew this one was coming but unfortunately I can’t give you a complete answer. Here’s the deal though:

Those ”kanji” are written in callygraphic form and are not easy to understand for the common of the mortals, least for me and my limited knowledge of them. I can read those tiny little two white ones on the left, by the red seals. They could say ”ushiyama” -the “cow-mountain”- but this is not even sure because every sign has multiple readings and meanings and, even this is the most common of them, in this case we guess is the name of the artist. As for the rest, after consultation with my wife we decided that one of them is clearly ”oto”, which means “sound”, as well as other things, of course. The problem is most of the ”kanji” change it’s meaning and reading when paired with another one so, without understanding the whole pack, you can not tell what lies behind.

That’s the way life is here in Japan, you don’t question anything and, specially, you don’t try to understand it all. There’s no way you ever could. Even them, they can’t and don’t try.

Anyway, who cares about the original hidden meaning when the piece is beautiful?

Very true words of you, Whit. Thank you for them. I will try to remember that.

It’s time to go to the gym, guys. Talk to you later. Take care.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Outstanding! – Thanks Jojo for showing. I too am very interested in seeing photo’s of your home or any other building showing traditional joinery – I spent some time in Japan touring mills many years ago – It was spectacular then and I’m sure now as well.

-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe

a wonderful project / undertaking!
You have done a wonderful job at restoring it – and the blog is well written and filled with lots of information. Thank you (again) for sharing.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I am really jealous you are immersed in the culture.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Interesting information and project.

-- Jiri

Fascinating.

Thank you guys, you all are way too kind, but I’ll take the compliments! ;o)

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

clay and straw….interesting.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Yep Dennis, by ‘traditional’ here one means really traditional! And sadly, very cold and with plenty of air drafts in wintertime. ;o)

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Neat project, and thanks for that info on your home. I wish our homes were built with the same open concept philosophy back then.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Hey Jojo-san,

The before and after shots are like night and day. Be nice to see them in natural light, but I ain’t complaining :)

Do you speak enough Nihongo to work alongside your father-in-law on carpentry jobs? Would be a great motivator to learn, wouldn’t it?

Very interesting.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Hi, Jafu-san.

As you can guess from your knowledge of the ”Kyoto no machiya”, the placement of the piece prevents—or at least makes it very difficult—to take good pictures in natural daylight. Still, I’ve revisited the pictures and I have to say that the color is pretty accurate. I tried to get it right color-corrected it in Photoshop before posting. It was indeed that dark before, I guess 5 or 6 decades of dust and the “oh-so-dry (Not!)” climate of Kyoto took its toll.

”Otosan” is semi-retired nowadays so no chance to work with him. Too bad.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin