Japan House Carpentry Exhibition ~ July 2025

A visit to Japan House in Kensington High Street to see the “Craft of Carpentry” exhibition.

Two-thirds of Japan is covered by the forest and their culture is rooted in a profound respect for nature and trees. The culture deeply venerates nature and especially forests, through Shintoism.

The exhibition covered three main aspects of Japanese carpentry: 

Japanese temple and shrine carpenters, known as miyadaiku, are specialist artisans who construct and restore traditional wooden structures such as Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. They are renowned for their use of intricate joinery techniques, particularly kigumi, which allows them to build without nails or metal fittings. The robust architecture withstands wind, snow and earthquakes.

The centrepiece of the exhibition was a life-size reconstruction of the Sa-an teahouse in the temple Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, offering visitors a rare opportunity to experience the intimate elegance of teahouse architecture.

Stunning folding screens are made from intricately carved strips of wood, a process which is extremely time consuming.

Natasha found the exhibition particularly interesting as her step-father was a carpenter, and she saw many instruments used for treating and working wood to produce the magnificent temples, shrines and pagodas.

A very interesting glimpse into Japanese culture.