by Karl Bareis
In October 2015 our fledgling organization decided to have our first annual Kezuroukai Event in California. Before that in May of 2015 we had sent a delegation to Kobe Japan to meet with Japanese event organizers to announce our intention to work with them to create an international organization focused on education about traditional Japanese woodworking tools. We imagined in 2015 that our members would enjoy setting up a yearly contest and we hoped to invite Japanese experts to support our work in the USA. The next year eleven experts from Japan were welcomed at our second National Event. They arrived and demonstrated not just expertise in kanna planing, but also brought several other traditional skills including log hewing, tool making, kigumi joinery demonstrations and a spirit of friendship which really helped us gather many members and recognize the core importance of toolmaking in the Kezuroukai movement. Those first years helped us build our foundation and attract many traditional craftsmen who have brought with them expanding skills related to traditional culture so important to our present organization. In addition to the yearly contests challenging the skill of shaving the thinnest slice of cypress, we have branched out into bringing woodworking tools into classrooms, discovering the skills hidden in Japanese boat building, polishing hardwood planks in Chinese furniture making, earth plaster walls, shoji screens, timber framing, temple roof framing secrets, and as the group has grown these cultural ideas have been a big part of who we are.
As seen through the lens of the past ten years, we have come a long way, and our membership has steadily grown more sophisticated. The themes have expanded as well, with experts willing to unfold their lifework and teach techniques and advanced skills only imagined when we started in 2015. The direction the Kezuroukai USA has taken in using online Zoom classes and sponsoring remote teaching venues has increased the members’ understanding of the traditional skills required to think like craftsmen, and has helped to foster the group spirit which is present in Japan as well as in our North American group. This past year projects involving our membership culminated in returning to the San Francisco Bay Area for the sixth time. Attendees brought with them new skills and a willingness to share with newcomers our growing confidence and comfort in the use of traditional Japanese tools in our lives.
As the community has grown, there are more places for individuals to seek out conversations with past acquaintances, and work-benches where they could open their tool boxes and begin to work as a team with advanced individuals leading the way in satellite activities located throughout the venue. The two-day event unfolded with a true efficiency; trucks rolled in and people filed up to help create working areas for each of several categories. With displays and workstations in place, simultaneous lectures and demonstrations were able to create a momentum that greatly helped everyone feel welcome to fit-in from the start.
The Facility included a large hall with display tables and vendors, with ample space for six central planning stations. Off the main room were spaces reserved for lectures which could be closed off and insulated from the hustle-and-bustle of the main-event space. Also the spacious courtyard provided for covered sharpening stations, both raised-up and on the paved portico for those who preferred sharpening blades on the ground. The 160 people who attended the event included eighteen experts who volunteered their time. (Described Below).
Among the Lectures:
Chronologically Lecture room Saturday
- Karl Bareis – Forestry & Building – Imagining long-cycle forestry in USA
- Tim Brennan Historic Bldg Survey – Described the process
- Dale Brotherton – kannaban Prep of kanna for daily use
- David Sipos – Traditional Garden Bridge design lecture
- Dave Burnard – Blacksmithing described from raw materials to finished steel
- Alex Gilmore – Natural stones – describing the Kyoto natural stone quarries and their historic significance in tool development
- Mike Laine – Beginners mind – demo on tool use
Owen Laine, helper
Main Room Information & Demonstrations
- David Bassing – 4-legged stools/Kokogen – use of the sashiganna as a tool to simplify complex layout. “In Japan, as you probably know, there are tests that a person must be able to do to become licensed as a carpenter. One of them is the layout and construction of a 4 legged stool with battered legs. This builds on the lessons learned from studying the ko-ko-gen triangle”.
- Zac Vinson – Representing Soma Kosha (Jon Stollenmeyer and Kohei Yamamoto’s traditional school for carpentry) – Tennessee, Okayama
- Scott Wynn – chibi ganna – Small plane use and maintenance.
- Tool Sales
Courtyard Demonstrations Saturday & Sunday
- John Burt/ Dave Burnard – Blacksmithing demo use of forge in toolmaking
- Yann Giguerre – Hewing: masakari/chona
- Toby Hargreaves – Roof-Framing & Layout – 2nd year of ongoing roof framing project.
- Lucas Benjamin – Hafu- Layout – to fit with Toby’s roof frame.
- Ryosei Kaneko – Sharpening – Use of series of stones while seated on the ground.
- Tak Kida & Kyle Kwiatowski – Yaki-sugi Demo
Sharpening Station Mentors Saturday & Sunday
- Jude Noteboom – Sharpening station.
- David Wood & other experts – Chisel station.