Kigumi Museum

木組み博物館

It’s been almost 6 months that I’ve been living in Japan, a fact that is hard to believe. I’ve still been spending almost half of my time doing traditional carpentry work in Okayama and the other half in Tokyo with my wife and our dog. My time in Tokyo is largely devoted to studying Japanese, but when my brain gets fried I like to head out and explore the city, and have been seeking out any woodworking related spots I can find. One great place that a friend recently recommended is the Kigumi Museum.

The Kigumi Museum is sort of a little brother to the Takenaka Carpentry Museum in Kobe. It’s largely devoted to traditional carpentry models and joinery samples, and while it’s much smaller than the Takenaka Museum it’s jammed packed and designed such that visitors can handle and play with all the joinery models, which I have to say is really fun. Also everything is labelled (in Japanese) which is great for people who are interested in learning the Japanese names and terminology.

When you first enter there is a table full of different joinery samples, all of which you are free to play with and assemble/disassemble.

These little corner joinery samples were by far my favorite. The hexagonal corner joint model below is one I had never seen before and it’s pretty astounding. After seeing how it goes together I’m dying to try it out on a project.

Here is the same joint disassembled. It’s pretty interesting to be able to see inside joints like this, and to see just how much material gets cut away in order for the parts to actually fit together.

The museum also has a variety of roof models based on traditional temple and shrine roofs. Below is the largest roof model which is based on a portion of the roof system from one of the Yakushiji Pagodas in Nara. I was told by one of the museum staff that the model was built by a carpenter that had worked on the the actual Yakushiji Pagoda restoration, which is pretty amazing.

All the exposed surfaces are finish with a spear plane, yari-ganna (槍鉋), which leaves a subtle wavey texture on the wood.

Next to the roof model was a photo of the pagoda and detailed drawing showing construction details. In the photo below you can also see the logs that run throughout the entire museum which are all different species of wood used in Japan, and all are labelled. You gotta love the attention to detail in this museum.

Overall the museum is packed into two separate rooms. In the first room you can find everything pictured above, and in the second you find a variety of other models detailing Japanese traditional craft processes. There are plaster wall models, urushi lacquer models, a miniature tea house, a display of hardware used in cabinetry and shoji, as well as a mini library of books for visitors to peruse. The amount of information that is packed into the two room Kigumi Museum is pretty amazing.

Well that’s about it for now. If you find yourself in Tokyo I highly recommend a visit to the Kugumi museum. It’s definitely a hidden gem and for anyone interested in Japanese woodworking it’s a great resource. Below is one final photo of a plaster wall model that was another favorite of mine, and shows just how much hidden craftsmanship there is in such a seemingly simple thing as a plaster wall.