OT: Old Japanese House Restoration, Start.

[572cv]

It’s apparent that many of you have great hands on skills, and are interested in what others are doing. I’m restoring a house :). Not a full sized one, but a model of a traditional Japanese house. It sits in its own yard, with a fence around it, a platform for the ensemble which is about 7.5” x 9 “. It came to me from my mother. Her mom and dad took a trip, in 1937, to the “Far East” as it was then referenced, including a visit to Japan. It must have been an amazing time to be there. My grandmother bought the model, and it has slowly fallen apart over the years. However, all the parts appear to have been kept in bags and boxes, and I have begun assembling them. It is an interesting insight into another time in history.
The ‘house’ itself, has space for sleeping and eating. The kitchen is in a separate shed as is the outhouse. In the first photo, the roof of the main house is on the left. Middle is the outhouse, with the privacy compartment above the night soil collection on the left and a ‘pissoir’ on the right. Then on the right is the kitchen. There is some kindling and the cooking area on the left, then some pots and cleaning brushes and accoutrements in the middle, and finally, the well and buckets on a pulley on the right. These are the first parts I have gotten back together, and are the first picture. Everything is hand carved and finished out of bamboo or light scraps of wood, but mostly, bamboo. The detail is amazing.
I’ll post photos as I go along, but thought some might be interested in the progress. Definitely a winter project !

[cadence90]

Fantastic. That thing is tiny! What is the scale?

Wow it sure has been a long time since I've seen buff trace and a good old Dietzgen brush in use.

I look forward to seeing the progress.
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[Tickdoc]

Beautiful. Can’t wait to see the finished product. I love Japanese houses, gardens, temples, etc.

I went with my parents when I was 12 and it was life changing. Would love to go back someday.

The simplicity and practicality of design found there is just mesmerizing to me.

When we were there we visited a Shinto shrine way up in the mountains (Nikko) and stayed with a family as their guest in their house. I go back there in my mind all the time and it is so vivid aven after 35 years.

I think it is so cool that your grandparents were able to go and I can’t even imagine what it must’ve been like then.

Not a big fan of Tom cruise or of the last samurai as a film per se, but that movie captures the essence of the people and the land so well and is very well done artistically.

Will be waiting here patiently for some pics.

[572cv]

Fantastic. That thing is tiny! What is the scale?

Wow it sure has been a long time since I've seen buff trace and a good old Dietzgen brush in use.

I look forward to seeing the progress.
.

Buff trace, triangles, brushes. I'm glad the parallel rule was out of the picture :) Usually I work on full scale buildings, and use CAD. I have been wondering about the scale of this thing, actually, and how it might be determined. The house appears to be set up with Tatami mats. If so, then perhaps I can figure it out from those. Everything is so accurate.

[NHAero]

Still use buff trace, of course!

That looks so cool, Rob. Do you know the film and book Minka?


Fantastic. That thing is tiny! What is the scale?

Wow it sure has been a long time since I've seen buff trace and a good old Dietzgen brush in use.

I look forward to seeing the progress.
.

[carpediemracing]

That is really cool. Although my parents are from Japan, they never had anything like that. Looking forward to updates, but please take your time!

[Mikej]

Cool! I loved my time in Japan, 1 year in Okinawa. I lived off base and remember those straw mat folding floors, That bathtub thing, and going to the power company with a stack of yen - we didn't know how to pay the bill!