Kezurou-kai USA is now offering In-Person classes
For more details and registration click on the links below.
Before you sign up for a class, please check that your email address in your Paypal account matches the email address that you currently use. All class links and receipts of payment will be sent to your default email address listed in your Paypal account.
In-Person Classes
EXTENDED KANNA CLASS – BRIAN HOLCOMBE – June 27-28, 2026
Extended Kanna Class
With Brian Holcombe
June 27-28, 2026 – Saturday & Sunday
10am – 5:30pm ET
Princeton, NJ
Limited to 5 students (In-Person)
$950 non-members
$900 members (use the discount code in the latest newsletter at checkout)
Please note that we have been considering releasing these classes at a future date via streaming and/or download. By signing up for class, you are agreeing to be recorded and included in these future recordings.
Extended Kanna Class
Learn to sharpen, prepare and use the Japanese hand plane. This class will teach proper setup and use of Japanese hand planes, explaining how to prepare and sharpen the blade, dai body and sub blade. Users are encouraged to bring a new plane. Classes require a 6 hour block of working time and 1.5hrs for lunch. Bring your own lunch.
Class starts at 10am and runs until 5:30pm.
This class is extended beyond the timeframe of the standard Kanna prep class to allow students greater sharpening time and to cover the material in greater detail.
The instructor provides many tools for the students to use but it is recommended to bring a quality straight edge and 400 grit sharpening stone.
MACHIAI CONSTRUCTION – KARL BAREIS – July 18 & 25, 2026
Machiai Construction
With Karl Bareis
July 18 & 25, 2026 – Saturday (2 Days)
9:30am – 3:30pm PT
HAKONE ESTATE & GARDENS, Saratoga, California
Limited to 6 students (In-Person)
$450
This class is sponsored by Hakone Foundation and Kezuroukai USA.
Please note that we have been considering releasing these classes at a future date via streaming and/or download. By signing up for class, you are agreeing to be recorded and included in these future recordings.
Focus of Class
Reconstruction and installation of a pre-fabricated sukiya-style(数奇屋) machiai waiting pavilion. This term refers to the carpentry style developed in the late sixteenth century using small-scale peeled cedar logs as the framing members of detached buildings with a roji (tea-garden). The Hakone Roji was constructed in 2016 with the help of seven volunteers from Japan. That garden has been waiting for its traditional machiai for the past decade. Materials were sorted out with the help of Bay Area craftsmen, and the major posts were harvested in 2024. The basic round-on-round structure will be raised during the session — bench, walls, and roof frame attached. For those attending, the techniques of harvesting and processing native trees will be described as well.
The typical Japanese building team would include experts in mud plaster walls. Some of this process will be covered in subsequent classes offered in the Fall to Winter months.
Members Get Discounts
If you’re not already a member consider joining. You’ll receive a Coupon Code for discounts on the classes, and at only $25/year for membership it will quickly pay for itself if you are thinking of taking classes.