Kamakura Period Large Sea Boat by catopower - FINISHED - Scale 1:50

[Landlubber Mike]

Clare, just wanted to add that I'm enjoying your build and learning about these unique vessels.  Very cool subject, and your work and techniques are outstanding.  

Edited September 18, 2018 by Landlubber Mike

[catopower]

Thanks for the comments Mike, Pat. I'm glad you're enjoying the build.

 

Here's an update...

 

The next step was to add what I believe we call fascia under the ends of the roofs. This was relatively easy to do, and they give a fancier appearance to the boat.

 

 

I also made a couple decorations that fit under the peak of the roof. I think this was originally a representation of a fish. It is called a gegyo. Note that this is not something I remember. I had to look up an email that someone in Japan sent me, explaining this feature to me. I have to add them to the aft yakata, still.

 

 

 

Anyway, this often appears on temples and castles and such, and it appears on one of the museum models of the umibune.

 

 

More later...

 

[mtaylor]

Fascinating, Clare. You have some very artistic and wonderful work going on there.   The Japanese boats/ships seem to reflect upon much of the culture of grace in movement, or that's my impression anyway, along with historical reasons (something maybe like "that's the way we've always done it"?).  In many ways, the Japanese gardens are the same way such that every plant and rock/boulder has meaning.  I could be full of it but that's my sense. 

 

[catopower]

Mark, this boat, in particular, probably has more in common with the Japanese carpentry/architecture you like. I realized recently that it's a bit like a simplified Japanese temple on a hull.

 

It may have something to do with the fact that the basis for this model goes back to the scroll painting that followed the life of Sugarawa no Michizane (yes, I had to look that up), who was a very famous high ranking scholar, poet and politician. The Fujiwara clan plotted to have him discredited and exhiled to western Kyūshu island, where he eventually died. Some time later, a lightning storm struck the capital and many of the leading Fujiwara clan were killed and their residences were destroyed. The Imperial court decided this was due to the angry spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, so they deified him as Tenjin, which means sky god, and built a temple to him in Kyōto called Kitano Tenman-gu. 

 

The scroll painting was made after he was deified, so it may very well contain certain religious embellishments in the appearance of the boat. That's only my theory. I haven't heard or read anything that might suggest it's true.

 

Anyway, I wonder if there was more of a religious influence in the watercraft like this. They weren't day-to-day workboats used by fishermen. There wasn't much cargo transport at this time (1200s), I believe, as consumerism and the merchant class didn't appear until after the 1600s. So, these were used for high value trade and transport of important passengers. 

[mtaylor]

This might help, Clare: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/miyashita.html    I don't know if you've seen it.    BTW, that site has a lot of good info.  Sadly, some of the papers have disappeared as I think the authors may have turned them into books.  

[catopower]

Thanks, Mark. I actually have a copy of this already. The subject matter predates my boat by about 1000 years or so, but there are a features of the boat that relate to ancient developments, so it's very interesting to read through. Texas A & M seems to have a great nautical archaeology program. And, thesis papers there are in English, so no translation needed! 

 

At some point, I'd like to visit Kanegawa University in Yokohama. They have a graduate institute for the study of Japanese folk culture and part of that seems to cover traditional Japanese water craft. I know of an unofficial group that meets there monthly to discuss topics on traditional Japanese boats. Makes me sad I'm not there where I can attend. Well, that and that my Japanese language skills aren't very good...

[BANYAN]

Very nice detail Clare, she/he is certainly looking great!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[catopower]

Thank you Pat. 

 

Well, I'm getting closer to the part I've been dreading somewhat. No, not the sails, though I've been considering the possibilities for that too. But, the hard part on this model, I think, are the oars. Part of this is the construction, and part is the mounting. But, a big issue is about the type of oars.

 

Now, I've been thinking about this since the start of this whole project, and I've mentioned it in more than one post, I believe. Japanese boats mostly use long sculling oars. Some use paddles. And then, of course, there are river boats which often use poles. Some boats use some combination of these, since different methods of propulsion work better in some situations than others.

 

Most of the models I've seen of Kamakura period sea boats have sculling oars, but they are of a straight variety, not the kind with an offset head, which often appear on traditional Japanese boats. But, the key artwork I'm using, shows the rowers facing backwards and pulling the oars. They are not sculling.

 

If these oars aren't used for sculling, then the rope used to help scull probably shouldn't exist. And, the peg used to help scull and to which the rope is attacked probably shouldn't exist either. That's my feeling, but going against tradition has certain risks. The model itself may be dismissed as inauthentic, or the builder risks being considered a know-nothing outsider, which to a great degree, I am, even though I've spent more time and effort researching Japanese watercraft than most Japanese.

 

Why should I care? To start with, I need access to information, which can be difficult to obtain, so I need the help of some folks in Japan. I've already recently hit a wall after writing to someone who I believe could answer some questions for me. I'm beginning to think I'm stepping on some toes by venturing into something that is culturally very Japanese. It's happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again. But, avoiding barriers is important.

 

In any case, I did manage to make the straight oars without pins.

 

They sure look a lot thicker here than they do when I'm working on them and trying not to break any. I made these from hinoki, like the rest of the model.

 

 

I'm not sure what type of wood was used for real oars. I read it somewhere at one time, but I don't recall where. Douglas Brooks's book probably mentions it. Anyway, I wanted a little color change, so I used a Dark Vintage Maple wood dye on these oars. Twelve oars are needed for this boat.

 

Next, I finally started to tackle the issue of finishing the aft deck house. At minimum, I need low partitions on the port and starboard sides. Some variations of this boat have the sides closed up with wicker walls. Others are pretty open air, which is what I'm thinking of doing.

 

 

I made these wall sections, but I have yet to complete the fit. The ends need a little sanding and adjusting before I can glue them into place. Fitting these is a bit of a challenge, since the deck house, or yakata, is already in place on deck. I know I should have added these before I put the framework into place on the deck, but I really have been figuring things out as I went.

 

Next time, I should have these in place. Then, I either need to make the anchors or deal with the sail.

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Sorry to read that you have run into walls when gathering information. I guess I've been fortunate in that folk have generally been very helpful in the Western cultural tradition. Anyway, good for you in trying, Clare!

[davyboy]

Hi Clare,

 

It's nice to see a build of another unusual subject. A bit of a pain when you have problems trying to obtain information. One of our MSW members in Japan is Mitsuaki Kubota aka fake johnbull. Perhaps he might be able to help you out,may be worth sending him a PM. Just a thought,you could be lucky.

 

Dave 

 

[catopower]

Thanks Druxey, Dave.

 

Dave, thanks for the contact suggestion. It's always good to have more contacts! 

 

The biggest problem with obtaining information is that there are very few who actually have very specific information. I've been able to locate a lot of details of things that I'm not building right now. And, for the things I AM building, my information isn't as complete as I'd like. 

 

Not only do I not know who to turn to for information, there are very few people who would actually have answers. And you can't just contact people out of the blue like you can here. It's mostly that it's just not done – they'll be puzzled and who you are and why you're contact them and, probably, how you got their contact info. You really need to be introduced by someone they know.

 

Working with Douglas Brooks has helped a lot. Also, a couple friends of mine are members of The Rope, Tokyo. And I was introduced to one of them by ship modeler Don Dressel of the SMA. I met with the Japanese gentleman on my last trip to Tokyo and he brought his ship modeler friend, who has become a great help to me. So, it's possible to get info and contacts, but it takes some effort.

 

Fortunately, Facebook has also made outreach easier, because it's a pretty informal way to connect to people. So, I've met a couple people there who have provided information. Still, it's mostly information on things I wasn't originally looking for.

 

But, I'm compiling just about every piece of information I can on Japanese traditional watercraft. Sooner or later, I'll need something and I'll find it in my archives!

 

Clare

[wefalck]

Excellent attitude to shipmodelling ... one would hope, that one day these insights will be written up in some way more stable than on a forum

[catopower]

Minor update that I thought I'd go ahead and report. 

 

It's finally time to create a mounting display for it. I wanted something simple, given the unusual detail and shape of the model, so I went with a block-like base made from cherry wood.

 

This mounting will allow the model to sit high enough for me to rig the rudder and the oars, though I'll wait until I finish the last of the cabin structure details. I also discovered that there are a couple beams that don't have ties on them, so I'll finish those up next.

 

 

Most of my ship modeling delays have been because I've been trying to make/modify figures for my models. I have mostly failures, but I'm learning and working towards having maybe 3 or 4 figures for this model. I just have to double-check on the clothing from 1300 A.D. Japan. 

 

Clare

[Tigersteve]

The base really compliments the model. Well done. 

Steve

[catopower]

Thanks Steve, I appreciate that. I'd always figured on some kind of mounting blocks, so I had built the hull with brass tubing glued in for mounting pins. The inside diameter is a nice snug fit for the brass rod that I fit into those blocks. 

 

I made one attempt at making the walls for the sides of the aft structure, but am not very satisfied with them, so I'll make another.

 

I'm now thinking that I should probably have a tatami-style mat for the floors of the structures. During the Edo period from the 1600's to about the 1860's, I know that Tatami mats were standardized sizes. But I don't know how far back that goes, so I'm looking into that now. 

 

Clare

[Landrotten Highlander]

I was under the impression that Tatami sizes were standard, yet differed across Japan.

The reason is that the standard size was the average height of a male person, called a shaku?, but the Japanese in the South were taller than those in the North....

[catopower]

Yes, there were three different standards for Tatami mat sizes that I'm aware of, and I guess they were pretty regional. You may very well be correct about being based on the height of a man, though I've never read anything specifically about that.

 

Shaku, however, is a simple unit measure almost exactly equal to 1 foot. There are other old units however, and one of them may be based on the approximate height of a man at the time. I ran across something like this, but don't recall the specifics.

 

Clare

[Landrotten Highlander]

I'll check my literature

 

[cog]

It's a bit like the French measurements before, during, and after the revolution ... but the Japanese added a third dimension, being body length ... somehow they always find a way to make things seem complicated, and when you look into it, it is rather logical ...

Edited July 6, 2018 by cog

[wefalck]

In Europe most length-measures were based on some average human body dimensions. It was only during the French Age of Enlightenment, that the idea of linking all length-measurements to some geographical/astronomical dimension came up - the result of a centralist governement that wanted to control everything

[catopower]

My favorite Japanese measure is the Koku. One Koku is supposed to the weight of an amount of rice required to feed one man for one year.

[cog]

2 hours ago, catopower said:

My favorite Japanese measure is the Koku. One Koku is supposed to the weight of an amount of rice required to feed one man for one year.

Must be a skinny person ...

[Louie da fly]

Or a lot of rice.

 

Off the subject a little, but still on the subject of measurement, an acre is an Anglo-Saxon measure of the amount of land that can be ploughed with a two-horse(?) plough in a day . . . (don't ask me about chains and perches and roods, let alone gills and bushels).

 

And the values of measurement units differed from time to time and from place to place, such as the French, Dutch and English values for the foot.

 

When they built the Olympias trireme reconstruction they used one value for an Ancient Greek unit (I think it was the cubit) but discovered in practice they would have been better using a slightly larger value from a slightly different time period, as there wasn't really enough room for the oarsmen (and women) to work the oars without interfering with each other.

 

And the Byzantines had the same thing with their various measures - palm, finger, hand etc. They kept changing, making it very difficult for historians to work out the sizes things had been.

 

Steven 

Edited July 6, 2018 by Louie da fly

[Landrotten Highlander]

Richt, back on topic...

This information can be found in the book 'Measure and construction of the Japanese House' by Heino Engel.

 

The 'Shaku' is similar to one foot - i.e. 303.22 mm = 11.93 in

 

In the latter Japanese Middle Ages, the measurement 'ken' appeared, which is the measurements from one centerline of a post to the following post.  Japanese houses are modular in design, and the (thin) paper walls are unable to carry any weight.  Thus the weight bearing proportions of the wall are actually posts between the paper walls.  Being modular means that it is possible to generate different layouts for houses using the simple measurement of the 'ken'.
The relationship between 'ken' and 'shaku is 6 - i.e. 1 'ken' = 6 'shaku'.

 

The unit for square measurements is a bit more complicated.  The unit 'jo' refers to the area of 1 tatami mat.  The size of any room is depicted by how many tatami mats fit into it (3, 4, 4.5, 6, 8 and 10, or in other words how many adults could sleep in this room, as 1 tatami mat was just big anough a room needed for an adult to sleep), but the size of the tatami mat varies with design method and local practise, and could be anything between 6.5 X 3.5 and 5.8 X 2.9 'shaku'.

It is only after the industrial revolution that the tatami mats got a standard size to facilitate automation.

 

The other unit for achitectural square measurement is 'tsubo', which is the area of 1 square 'ken'.  given the differences in building and measuring across Japan at the time, one square 'tsubo' could be anything between 6.5 X 6.5 and 6.0 X 6.0 'shaku'.  In other words, this is the square unit as measured between the centerline of the posts on each of the corners of this unit.

 

To make things a bit easier in determining how many tatami mats could fit in this ship, I would look at how many posts support the roof, then determine the distance between centerlines of the posts.  Take this 'distance' minus '1 thickness of post', and that will be the length of your tatami mat.  Its width should be exactly half that length.

 

Now I shall have some brekky.

 

Slainte gu mhath

L.H.

 

 

[Landrotten Highlander]

Just had another look at the pictures, it looks like the largers of the roofs supports a 6 'jo' space, thus 6 tatami mats.

They could be layed in specific patterns:

1) llllll

2) ===

3) l==l    I think this will be the most interesting layout visually.

 

Slainte gu mhath

L.H.

[Louie da fly]

Fascinating stuff, L.H.

 

Steven

[cog]

3 hours ago, Landrotten Highlander said:

This information can be found in the book 'Measure and construction of the Japanese House' by Heino Engel.

Couldn't recall where I read the measurement information, but now you gave the title ... it all falls back into place .. I've got the same book! There is a wealth of information in it, a lot of joinery which is fascinating - at least I find it so - sliding doors, moon doors, lattice work, garden fences ... Pitty the book is OOP for those interested.

[catopower]

Thanks for your posts LH.

 

I knew about the kan, but have only run across the measurement in use once and never read anything on its basis in architecture. Very interesting stuff! Does the book say how far back these rules went? It would be easy to apply it to the Edo period, 1600 - 1863, but this would be Kamakura period, 1185-1333.

 

The idea of the "floating" sizes of tatami mats is very helpful in this case. The width of the large yakata would allow for one full 5.8 x 2.9 shaku tatami mat to fit lengthwise across it. I don't know that my structure is perfectly proportioned, but yes, it should fit a 6 tatami layout.

 

Now, I have to think about the configuration, and this brings us to the essence of wabi-sabi in the layout of the mats. I was originally considering the one you listed as the 3rd configuration, but 4-corner joints are to be avoided. In fact regular grid patterns are to be avoided too. On a layout to fit this kind of building, I think there are only two options:

 

1. =||=

2. =|=|

 

I've only seen the 2nd one listed as a suggestion for this size and shape of space. Well, something more to think about.

 

Clare

[catopower]

Oh, and actually this may be a 3rd possibility:

 

3. ||=||

 

By the way, thanks to LH and Carl for mentioning this book. You can still get it on Amazon in paperback and kindle form. I just ordered a copy. I'm sure I'll find it useful.

[Landrotten Highlander]

The book states that 'The structure of measures was taken over from China and in its original subdivision was consistently decimal:

1 'ri ' = 150 'jo' (different from mat size) = 1500 shaku

1 'jo' = 10 'shaku' = 100 'sun'

1 'shaku' = 10 'sun' = 100 'bu'

1 'sun' = 10 'bu' = 100 'rin'

 

The metric system as we know today has only been in use in Japan since 1891.  As stated in a previous post, the 'ken' came into vogue in the latter half of Japan's Middle Ages. Initially there were 2 different methods used in architectural applications (kyo-ma and inaka-ma), but only the inaka-ma method of 6 'shaku' relating to center-to-center distance between columns replaced the above mentioned 'jo' unit of 10 shaku, primarely because of the 'ken' measure's intimacy with daily life.

 

There are no dates provided as to the first use of the 'ken', but A governmental regulation of March and August1657 concerning construction in Edo (Tokyo) mentions both 'ken' measurements.

For completeness of infornation:

1 'ken' in the kyo-ma measurement = 6.5 'shaku'

1 'ken' inthe inaka-ma measurement = 6.0 shaku

 

hope this helps in the short term, in the long term, there is much more information available in the book - I have only taken those snippets of information I thought would be usefull in making a choice wihtout having full access to this resource (the book is 150 pages of information).

 

On your lay-out options they can be used, but take into account that most things Japanese have an element of easthetic pleasure involved, so in the layout think about how the light hits the tatami mats, and what would give the most pleasing aspect (see bookpage 42-43) as well as the visual aspects of the layout.  Adding to thiss is the factt that the size of the 'room' on the ship is not conform you typical 6 'jo' room size.

From what I can make out of the general concept of layout, the most pleasing aspect is to have the entire length of the mat across the (entrance)door as this would give a 'wholesome' look (assuming the entrance door is located at the narrow end of the room), instead of your options which starts with a 'deviding line' right from the door.  (but the last bit is my sensitivity, and might be completely off tangent).

 

Slainte gu mhath

L.H.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Landrotten Highlander
typo