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kanna thoughts

On the quest of a woodworking atelier that can help me create the right furniture for a super-brand store I am working on, I met with Toshio Tokunaga.

His atelier is in the Kobe countryside, next to his residence (who he built himself 25 years ago) and in front of a vegetable garden is also adjoining a temple which hosts a festival once a year.

We arrived there in a winter afternoon and the setting was just like stepping on a stage of Kurosawa Akira. Smoke, sharp strokes of light from the dying sun, country sounds. The atmosphere was primed with an explosive concentration of poetic charm.

Tokunaga sensei was surrounded by young apprentices, friendly, understated. But the wood board floor showing the scars of thousands of births, the table we sit at, stained with sweat and passion and the religious dedication of his apprentices were clear signs of the genius.

Tokunaga sensei was himself disciple of a giant: the Kyoto based woodwork artist and “Japanese National Cultural Treasure” Hekigai Takeuchi.
Tokunaga`s core concept is based on the use of the japanese hand planer (kanna). With this tool it is possible to cut sharply the wood fibers (as opposed to the use of sandpaper) thus conferring shine, hardness and durability to the object he finishes which do not need any paint finish.
Here below is a comparative microscope photo.

 kanna-finish                                sandpaper finish
← kanna planer / sandpaper →

Let me mention two other points about his “kanna thoughts” I really found enlightening.

  1. Tokunaga sensei uses the plane also to finish curved, three dimensional and organic shapes. “When you use the plane on a curved surface, you create narrow faces of a polyhedron. Each face reflects the light and provide sharp edges to guide the eye. When finished with kanna, a curved shape becomes more iconic, its line is crisp and meaningful.”
  2. using kanna is not only finishing the wood, it is more like communicating with the material. While planing, you feel the wood direction, its soft and hard spots. You interpret the message already contained in the wood, you help revealing the shape that is already there. He goes as far as saying: “It is difficult to become a good craftsman if you do not have an understanding of nature. All people that played in a river in their childhood (before turning age five) have the potential of becoming a skilled craftsmen”.

    (I read a similar concept about mindfulness from a 3rd century Chinese classic “Prince-Wen-Huis-Cook” and his technique in cutting meat! – but this is another story…)

Mr. Tokunaga speaks English so you can contact him directly for any information/project/quotation etc.
If you need some help, let me know: any alibis is welcome for me in order to be able to work with these incredible craftsmen who reveal the deep philosophy of life through their hands.

townhouse in NYC

Here I am showing some photos of 2 ofuros and japanese bathroom accessories installed in a project in NYC. I had the pleasure to meet the owner in the past 2 times in Tokyo but it was the first time I saw the house.
I received permission to share here the photos of the ofuros.


For privacy reasons, I will not publish the other photos of the interior but I can ensure you it is a real masterpiece and I am honored that Bartok design products are used in such a house.


Of course, the scale is grand and the materials luxurious but what really strikes is the attention for the details, the functionality, the balance.


I hope that these photos can offer inspiration for other projects as well!!

Hiroshima and Miyajima

After 21 years of living in Japan, I finally had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima.
The A-bomb memorial left me very deep emotions. I feel more adult, more responsible, I feel stronger after the visit.
Again, photos and videos are here if you want to visit through my eyes.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kD9QotW8YP8yLLLh9

From there is also possible to board a powerboat to Miyajima (about 45min.), the famous shrine with the orange torii emerging from the waves. You can buy the round trip ticket but if you get the one way only, you will have more options to choose from for the return trip.

Miyajima was wonderful beyond the imagination! I do not know why it took me 21 years to make it here!
There are friendly but wild dears strolling around. Unfortunately, the famous torii was under restoration: an additional reason to come again.

On the island, the atmosphere is relaxed, few cars, the shrine surrounded by the sand and water is just spectacular and all the other sites and the village itself are a paradise if you enjoy taking photographs.
I am an amateur photographer and just used the phone but I hope that the photos at the link below can stir your appetite…
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fk3VTAUbBKxn2EHy7

This december day was blessed by a warm sun, wild clouds and the colors of the autumn maples. The only problem was the little time. I definitely want to return soon, maybe in springtime and definitely with a full day to mindlessly stroll around…

Princess Sawara – outlet tub – SOLD OUT

(sorry, sold out… but its twin is available here↓ )
https://bartokdesign.com/8-outlet-tubs/princess-sawara-twin-outlet-tub.php

Sawara is a close cousin of hinoki and is commonly called japanese cypress tree because of its slightly orangeish color (it reminds of cherry wood). Soft, light and feminine, it is definitely the “princess” of japanese conifers.

Lightweight and compact, this ofuro does not require a plywood box for the shipping making it possible to cut both on the costs of packaging and shipping.

We still have other material of this beautiful lot, so if you need a custom size in Sawara go ahead and contact us (we do not have thick material to make top border frames, so it needs to be a compact size that can be build with simple plank construction.

(more…)

japanese softwoods

For a description of the essences we use to build ofuros, please read the description below. (or return to the category: our woods and scroll down)
Note that we may also have the availability of Koya-maki wood or knotty hinoki but these are becoming rarer.
For a more compact, printer-friendly version, check our download area and select the document on top of the list (1)

Lastly, note that we only use japanese woods. we cannot make ofuros in teak or port orford cedar. Also, pine is not suitable to make ofuros because it bends easily with changes of humidity and it produces discharges of resin.

If you need samples, please contact me by email at japan@bartokdesign.com specifying your preferred shipping address.

some like it hot… some like it cold

I am glad to be able to sharing with you an instagram post (with lovely comment) from our client @taigawinterswimclub

Hi there!
I am loving my bath tub so much!!!
Thank you.
What a beautiful feeling to wake up and take an ice bath under the morning sky!

Ceramic works by Studio Odahara

Hi, Iacopo:
Thank you for keeping me on your mailing list. Sincerely appreciate your generosity and love of Japan, and her culture.
I’m a ceramic artist with a deep appreciation of wood, using Japanese kashigata, carved cherry molds in my work:
http://www.mnartists.org/polonianovack
Currently researching where my Japanese grandparents were born in Japan. Once I’ve sorted out details, planning to make a pilgrimage to their birthplaces. 
Your projects sound compelling and full of promise. Wishing you continued success.
With kind regards,
Polonia Odahara Novack
Studio Odahara
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Is this paradise?

I received this beautiful picture from a kind client in Australia who installed this oversized kadomaru (L=1300mm) made of hinoki wood instead of the regular sawara.
I do not know about you but I could just keep staring at this photo for hours. Doesn`t it look like paradise?

Hello Iacopo 

Thought you might like to see where one of your beautiful tubs ended up. 

Covered of course to avoid damage from sun but lovely like this when we enjoy a soak

Regards
M.

Kumano, Shu-gen-do and more!

Following from the previous blog entry, after the visit at the Furuya house, we had lunch with the city hall staff and other consultants and I spoke about the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route and how many European tourists skip the beaten track and head straight to the Koya-san monasteries.

(If you are not familiar, the Kumano Kodo is a 4 to 6 days pilgrimage trail also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Wakayama prefecture)

Wouldn`t it lead to positive results both culturally and economically to appeal to these tourists rather than opening yet another aquarium with jumping dolphins?

My comment was maybe superficial – also considering the fact that I did not yet walk the Kumano route myself.
I just felt that if we had to find the Hannan hidden potential it was probably not on the tetrapods of the reclaimed shores but rather on the trails connecting Sakai to Mino and to Koya-san.
This generated a very interesting conversation about Shugen-do and maybe with some potential to change the destiny of the area.

Shugendo is a syncretic theosophy, with some similarities to the shamanism of the American Indians or the celtic druidism at its base (just to add another layer of syncretism…)
Shu-gen-do (literally: PRACTICE + MIRACLE + PATH) is the “path to gaining special powers as the result of training”. It was founded by En no Gyoja in the VII century and combined elements of ancient pre-Buddhist, Shinto worship of nature together with the doctrine and ritual of esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyo), Taoism, Onmyōdō, astronomy, medicine etc.

The Shugen-do practitioners are also known as Yamabushi and have to spend time in the mountains (one trip for each season, 4 times a year) and learn from nature the truth about life. Thanks to this experience, they gain knowledge of curative herbs and in the past acted as healers and were believed to have superpowers. (As a side story, many ninjas used yamabushi techniques for fighting and disguised under the robes of pilgrims.) You can find a lot of information on the internet about yamabushis: let me just add one comment (as I did not find it elsewhere) : the best definition of what “Yama”-“bushi” are can be found in the literal reading of the kanji: “mountain” + “human + dog”: in the sense that practitioners seek freedom from the control of their rational mind to become like animals a part of nature and understand its rules and power.

Shugendo was outlawed by the Meji government as the newly established Emperor was aiming at creating a simple pyramidal structure where he was the chief of a depurated Shinto religion and therefore Buddhism and Shintoism had to be forcibly separated.
(Before then, most of the sacred sites included Buddhist and Shinto buildings side by side, as you can still see in Asakusa – which is now an exception).
In any case, the Yamabushi continued their training in secret until they were rehabilitated after WWII. During the years of concealment, Shugen-do was mainly absorbed within the Shingon Buddhism and Tendai Buddhism influencing its present structure and rituals.

↑ photo copyright by http://wadaphoto.jp/

But the core component of Shugen-do is very simple and there is no sacred text or theory. You just have to walk (in silence) in the mountains and go through trials like climbing a steep cliff, meditate under a cold waterfall or walk on fire. Nature will teach you the truth about life, without the necessity for any interpretation or mediation. No theory, just do it!
Isn`t it powerful?

There were hundreds of holy mountains providing the challenges and the teachings necessary to become a wise man but the most famous areas for wanderers are:

  • The now lost paths of Mino (north of Osaka) and Ikoma mountains where En no Gyoja, fascinated by the red maple leaves started to develop his practices.
  • The most famous of all times is the Omine mountain range which includes the Kumano, Kinpusen and Yoshino super-holy sites, making it the mecca of the “mountain wisdom seekers”.
  • Koya-san was not properly a Shugen-do site but of course distinctions were much more fuzzy in the past. It is technically part of the Kii-Omine mountain range but it is so sacred that I am listing it separately. Koya san was connected to Sakai and Osaka by a pilgrimage route.
  • Dewa Sanzan – the Three Sacred Mountains in Yamagata prefecture (north-west Tohoku). Mount Haguro,  “the mountain representing the existing world,”  Mount Gassan, “the mountain representing the past,” and Mount Yudono, “the mountain representing the future,” alone can teach you everything you ever hoped to know … and more!
  • Hakusan (lit. white mountain) is the collective name for a number of sacred Japanese mountains that converge along the borders of four prefectures (Ishigawa, Fukui, Gifu, and Toyama) in northwest Honshū From early on, Hakusan was known as a “mountain realm inhabited by kami” and banned to normal people.
  • The Isu peninsula with its ancient hot springs holy sites and Shinto-Buddist – one thousand handed Kannon statues
  • Mt. Ontake in the Kiso Region (Nagoya)
  • The Katsuragi mountain in Nara prefecture
  • The Ishizuchi mountain in Shikoku Island
  • Last but not least, Hiko-mountain in Kyushu featuring giant buddhas carved in the cliff.

The practice included some rituals before “entering-into-the-peak” (nyubu girei) but as those traditions were handed down orally, there are very few traces remaining nowadays. But most importantly (and here I am coming to the point of this long entry) each path consisted of a number of stages: practical experiences to be done in order to absorb the wisdom from nature. These stages were marked by stone tablets or kannon statues, so that the practitioners could understand where to stop and what hint to look for. The Omine path has en route 75 ascetic practice stages called “Nabiki“.
Other paths consist of 33 stations, symbolic of the 33 manifestations of Kannon Bodhisattva.

And here is my idea and proposal. Did you know that the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra were buried among the peaks in the Katsuragi range which extends from Futagamiyama (Nara) to Kada (at the gates of Wakayama)? At present only a few stations are known (#1 being a cliff in Tomogashima and #7 being a cold waterfall).
Also, it is amazing that the Katsuragi route would connect to the Omine and the Kumano pilgrimage route forming a triangle.
Onigashima is the island with the spectacular ruins of the Japanese Imperial Army batteries which is worth a visit alone! And there are 26 sutras that are waiting to be found in the mountains leading back to Yoshino, in the heart of the old country of Yamato, the heart of Japan.

Don`t you think it would be extremely thrilling to re-discover the forgotten Shugen-do path together with its treasures of wisdom?
The location is also ideal making it easy for the visitors of Koya san to intercept at least some stations. Also, being the Katsuragi mountains quite low it would be possible to cover the pilgrimage in 2 days creating an introductory experience for those who could then decide to wander the Kumano or Omine range on their next trip.
It would be culturally exciting – and I think also commercially successful to rediscover and restore in a non-invasive way the old Shugen-do Katsuragi path and all of its 28 stations. What do you think?

Giving it a try, instead of just wrapping ourselves in theoretical thinking.
Learning while experiencing this wonderful World we have all for us: isn`t it the perfect antidote against the invisible force that sucks our time and confines our lives behind a virtual facebook avatar?

I would appreciate it if you let could let me know your opinion about such a project (via email or by commenting below) as I could use these data to convince the authorities to look at concrete ways to implement the project.
I know, it is not an easy way but – hey! – if it was easy what is the point?

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