2013年07月31日
Setouchi Triennale: Boats and Builders
Those of you who read my previous post know that the Setouchi Triennale has set up a Bengali marketplace at Takamatsu Port. Over the course of the summer session it will host about 100 Bengali artists, artisans and performers, as well as creative teams of Japanese and others holding demonstrations, events and workshops. In other words, great stuff!
Bengal Island
Two boat building projects deserve special mention. The first is building a tenmasen or small cargo boat indigenous to the Setouchi region. The team consists of Douglas Brooks, Koji Matono and Takumi Suzuki.
L to R: Mrs. Suzuki, Koji Matono, (me), Douglas Brooks, Takumi Suzuki
Matono, founder of the Wooden Boat Center in Takashima, builds all types of wooden boats (see http://woodenboat.jp/) while Suzuki builds canoes and serves as a river guide (www.hacarame.com).
Team at work
Douglas Brooks, an American, has been researching and documenting traditional Japanese boat building for 20 years. The techniques used, he told me, were carefully guarded secrets known only to the boat builders, who passed them on to their apprentices through on-the-job training. No detailed blueprints, no manuals, no records!
Realizing that with the death of each master boat builder, Japan and the world was losing priceless knowledge, Douglas began seeking out the masters and learning how to build boats typical of different regions before it was too late. Interesting that it often takes an “outsider” to recognize the value of something that is being lost!
Rice, fish and sake offerings for the boat's safety
To see the boat evolve through August, check out their blogs (http://blog.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/ http://woodenboat.jp/setouchi/). Better yet, come down to the port and see the team in action. Admission is free so if you’re in the area, drop by as often as you like.
The second project is by a team of Bangladeshis building a small traditional craft.
Bengali boat
Like Japan, Bengali shipwrights passed down their skills orally and, consequently, Bangladesh is also on the verge of losing its rich boat building heritage.
Wasama Doja, the manager of Contic, a company that transforms traditional riverboats into luxury cruisers, is an eloquent spokesperson for this endangered technology and the beautiful craft they produce (See http://www.contic.net/ ).
Wasama Doja drops in on the tenmasen team
The techniques used in building the boat on Bengal Island, he tells me, date back 3,000 years and the ingenious metal staples that secure the planks together represented a major evolution in boat building.
Tools, staples and nails are all handmade.
Contic, Wasama explained, actually became involved in preserving traditional skills when they discovered that no one remembered how to weave the sails for a beautiful old ship they were converting. Since then, they have taken many steps to keep this knowledge alive, such as making models that are perfect replicas, 3D blueprints, of different types of boats.
Replicas
There is a great rapport between these two teams. The builders visit each other’s site to appreciate and exchange knowledge and skills—a perfect example of what the Setouchi Triennale and Bengal Island are all about. If you haven’t been yet, please do go. If you have been, go again and get to know some of the amazing people and their crafts.
For more information on the Setouchi Triennale, see http://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/
Takamatsu Access:
Takamatsu can be reached by direct flights from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, by express bus from Kansai International Airport (3 hr), and by direct flights from China and Korea. It can also be reached by taking the bullet train to Okayama and changing to the Marine Liner bound for Takamatsu (runs every 1/2 hour; takes 1 hour). For more info see http://wikitravel.org/en/Takamatsu
Bengal Island
Two boat building projects deserve special mention. The first is building a tenmasen or small cargo boat indigenous to the Setouchi region. The team consists of Douglas Brooks, Koji Matono and Takumi Suzuki.
L to R: Mrs. Suzuki, Koji Matono, (me), Douglas Brooks, Takumi Suzuki
Matono, founder of the Wooden Boat Center in Takashima, builds all types of wooden boats (see http://woodenboat.jp/) while Suzuki builds canoes and serves as a river guide (www.hacarame.com).
Team at work
Douglas Brooks, an American, has been researching and documenting traditional Japanese boat building for 20 years. The techniques used, he told me, were carefully guarded secrets known only to the boat builders, who passed them on to their apprentices through on-the-job training. No detailed blueprints, no manuals, no records!
Realizing that with the death of each master boat builder, Japan and the world was losing priceless knowledge, Douglas began seeking out the masters and learning how to build boats typical of different regions before it was too late. Interesting that it often takes an “outsider” to recognize the value of something that is being lost!
Rice, fish and sake offerings for the boat's safety
To see the boat evolve through August, check out their blogs (http://blog.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/ http://woodenboat.jp/setouchi/). Better yet, come down to the port and see the team in action. Admission is free so if you’re in the area, drop by as often as you like.
The second project is by a team of Bangladeshis building a small traditional craft.
Bengali boat
Like Japan, Bengali shipwrights passed down their skills orally and, consequently, Bangladesh is also on the verge of losing its rich boat building heritage.
Wasama Doja, the manager of Contic, a company that transforms traditional riverboats into luxury cruisers, is an eloquent spokesperson for this endangered technology and the beautiful craft they produce (See http://www.contic.net/ ).
Wasama Doja drops in on the tenmasen team
The techniques used in building the boat on Bengal Island, he tells me, date back 3,000 years and the ingenious metal staples that secure the planks together represented a major evolution in boat building.
Tools, staples and nails are all handmade.
Contic, Wasama explained, actually became involved in preserving traditional skills when they discovered that no one remembered how to weave the sails for a beautiful old ship they were converting. Since then, they have taken many steps to keep this knowledge alive, such as making models that are perfect replicas, 3D blueprints, of different types of boats.
Replicas
There is a great rapport between these two teams. The builders visit each other’s site to appreciate and exchange knowledge and skills—a perfect example of what the Setouchi Triennale and Bengal Island are all about. If you haven’t been yet, please do go. If you have been, go again and get to know some of the amazing people and their crafts.
For more information on the Setouchi Triennale, see http://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/
Takamatsu Access:
Takamatsu can be reached by direct flights from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, by express bus from Kansai International Airport (3 hr), and by direct flights from China and Korea. It can also be reached by taking the bullet train to Okayama and changing to the Marine Liner bound for Takamatsu (runs every 1/2 hour; takes 1 hour). For more info see http://wikitravel.org/en/Takamatsu
My Profile
Cathy Hirano キャシー ヒラノ
I've lived in Japan since 1978. After graduating from a Japanese university with a BA in cultural anthropology in 1983, I worked as a translator in a Japanese consulting engineering firm in Tokyo for several years. My Japanese husband and I moved to Takamatsu in 1987 to raise our two children in a slower-paced environment away from the big city pressures. We've never regretted it. I work as a freelance translator and interpreter and am involved in a lot of community work, including volunteering for Second Hand, a local NGO that supports educational and vocational training initiatives in Cambodia, and for the Takamatsu International Association. I love living in Takamatsu.
Cathy Hirano キャシー ヒラノ
I've lived in Japan since 1978. After graduating from a Japanese university with a BA in cultural anthropology in 1983, I worked as a translator in a Japanese consulting engineering firm in Tokyo for several years. My Japanese husband and I moved to Takamatsu in 1987 to raise our two children in a slower-paced environment away from the big city pressures. We've never regretted it. I work as a freelance translator and interpreter and am involved in a lot of community work, including volunteering for Second Hand, a local NGO that supports educational and vocational training initiatives in Cambodia, and for the Takamatsu International Association. I love living in Takamatsu.
Posted by cathy at 00:23│Comments(4)
この記事へのコメント
Great post Cathy.
I was wondering you didn't talk about either project on your previous post.
I find both boat buildings fascinating. They're one of the reasons why I try to return to Bengal Island as often as possible and will keep on to do so for the next 30 days (well, 32 days).
I was wondering you didn't talk about either project on your previous post.
I find both boat buildings fascinating. They're one of the reasons why I try to return to Bengal Island as often as possible and will keep on to do so for the next 30 days (well, 32 days).
Posted by David at 2013年07月31日 07:54
Aren't they great! It's so amazing to be able to watch those boats grow and develop right before your eyes and the skills and methods used are fascinating. It helps a lot that both teams are so willing to share their enthusiasm and knowledge. I wanted to write a lot more but space does not permit. Besides, they have already written it much better than I could on their own web pages.
Posted by cathy
at 2013年07月31日 08:57
at 2013年07月31日 08:57Yeah, I talked quite a lot with Wasama. He's a great guy very personable. I also talked with Douglas Brooks the first time I met him, but not since.
(on a side note, Cathy are you getting my e-mails? I haven't heard from you in a while, but maybe you were simply busy)
(on a side note, Cathy are you getting my e-mails? I haven't heard from you in a while, but maybe you were simply busy)
Posted by David at 2013年07月31日 19:25
Yes, and I emailed you twice today. Did you get them?
Posted by cathy at 2013年07月31日 22:58
at 2013年07月31日 22:58※会員のみコメントを受け付けております、ログインが必要です。
