Author: donna

Our organization is a place where seasoned professionals, tool makers, and hand-tool enthusiasts can gather and share their love for hand-tools. It all started in the year 2000, with carpenters in Japan, looking for ways to interact with a dwindling population of tool-smiths. The first gatherings started when tool merchants invited carpenters to try out their best quality hand tools before buying them. Usually in Japan the finished tool is not yet honed to razor sharp, that’s done by the individual craftsman using water stones of differing coarseness’s. Read More …

As you may recall from the Kezurou-kai last October, there was work taking place throughout the day on a redwood arbor that was to be installed at Hakone Gardens at a later date. Well that later date was February 18 – a rare day with no rain and no mudslides. Read More …

Late last century, Daiku in Japan realized the need to expose and promote their ancient crafts and industry to the larger population. The goal they had in mind was to interest more young people to consider joining their ranks.

What started out as local shop gatherings and demos, inviting people into a world that was essentially closed off to them for centuries, networked over a few years to become semi-annual gatherings across Japan. Attendance at these events now reaches 10,000 attendees and has cities across Japan vying for hosting these events, with much government assistance. Read More …

It seems that we, as craftspeople creating shelters, are aiming to satisfy our human need to stay close to the land, as deeply embedded in our physiology as our need to breathe. More and more of us around the world are drawn to lend our attention to the task of fulfilling this need, our enthusiasm feeding off of one another.

When earthen plasters are a common choice in the US and beyond for conventional wall finishes, we will be closer to the land. Read More …