No Nails Needed

Now, imagine a house being built without any nails. In Japan, carpenters didn't use nails traditionally. With the humid weather that visits Japan much of the year, metal nails would be prone to rusting quickly.

In order to join the pieces without nails, the carpenters would have to shape the pieces and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle. One possibility is shown at right. Here, the joining timber is passed through a keyhole cut in the other supports.

Using techniques similar to building a 3-D jigsaw puzzle out of ingeniously shaped pieces of wood, the carpenters could begin to build a frame. By adding different types, sizes, and colors of wood, the carpenters can make the structure quite decorative.

Japan traditional architecture consists of this type of carpentry. So, you can see why, in Japan, carpenters (大工さん daiku-san) are highly regarded craftsmen. Carpenters with an extra-high skill level are known as 宮大工さん (miya-daiku-san), and the master carpenters among them are called 棟梁 (touryou).

Miya-daiku have been responsible for many shrines and temples dotting Japan, but the number of these skilled carpenters is dwindling. Today, their skills are protected by state. Once there were hundreds of touryou, but they now number no more than 50 nationwide. Most attained their exalted status after years and years of apprenticeship.

Today, as Japanese carpentry joins a long list of traditional arts and crafts that have lost their footing in modern life, there are but a few carpenters left in Japan who can put a house together without nails. And probably none left who could create master works like the palacial roof shown at right.