By Cathy Hirano

The summer session of the Setouchi Triennale ended over a month ago but there is one event that still deserves mentioning: the launching of the tenmasen, a wooden cargo boat traditional to the Setouchi region.



The product of the Triennale summer session, the boat was built by the 3-man team of Douglas Brooks, Koji Matono and Takumi Suzuki in public view, evolving into a real beauty that drew much attention to this swiftly vanishing art. The project dovetailed perfectly with the Triennale’s theme of rediscovering and reviving the precious heritage of this beautiful region.
(For more on the project see Douglas’ blog: http://blog.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/ ).



I personally loved the decorative touch of copper plate covering the nail heads and end grain. Looks like a great way to cover up any dents inadvertently made by a hammer, too.


There had been some doubt as to whether the boat would ever really be launched due to red tape and rules. Even when those were overcome, an approaching typhoon threatened to ruin the party. August 30, however, dawned surprisingly fair and about 100 people gathered at Takamatsu’s yacht club to see the boat make its maiden voyage.

Speeches were made and the name “Hoyu” (friendship) was unveiled



Douglas officiated the ceremony, following ancient customs learned from a local 84-year-old boat builder.



Symbolic offerings included ancient coins, a pair of die, figures of a man and woman,



and a fish made of fishing net by The Skin Project.



Douglas explained the significance of each but not having a pen and paper I have now forgotten!

Music was provided by Bengali performers using traditional instruments



And by a musical contraption from MEGI HOUSE.



A fanfare of conch shells also joined the chorus.



The tenmasen was carried into the water by a team of hefty university students



and turned 3 times.



The students then danced what looked like the All Blacks Haka War Dance with a Bengali chant. Very impressive.



Douglas meanwhile set off to sea, picking up passengers along the way.



A flotilla of canoes joined the party, taking anyone who wanted for a ride.



One of those was me of course. Hearing that I was from Canada and had been paddling since I was seven, my guide very kindly let me take over from him and stern the canoe. (That's me in the back of the green canoe below.)



All in all, the ceremony was a wonderful celebration of diversity, friendship, and the common bond of love for good craftsmanship and beauty. It was also a great demonstration of the power of the Triennale to transform Takamatsu and the Setouchi region into a hub of intercultural exchange and understanding.

For more on the 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