Plan of Action
- In many countries training systems exist for qualified artisans in order to maintain their cultural heritage. We will organize an international network of these training systems for exchanging actual knowledge and by examining the arts used in the Okazaki House and the process of engineering development among the master carpenters by comparing with those used in other historical constructions that can be found in Tottori Prefecture. Tottori Prefecture is a treasure house of traditional arts, where you can find many well-constructed and well-maintained old houses, though they are not classified as national cultural heritages.
- The Fukuda-Tanba House: located close to the Okazaki House, a Samurai Residence constructed in 1818 for a high class samurai, Fukuda-Tanba whose salary was 3500 koku; This was 11.7 times higher than 300 koku of Okazaki at the time of construction of the Okazaki House. Even though the salary level is higher, the Fukuda-Tanba House is constructed with columns and beams of thinner dimension; as the dimension of column shows the class of construction, such a reverse difference would never be permitted during the feudal period. This fact demonstrates the peculiarity of the Okazaki House. Because the samurai houses in Tottori were constructed by the master carpenters of the same training school of carpenters managed by the clan of Tottori-Ikeda, the representatives of the training systems from different countries can compare the techniques applied and find applications for their development.
Input and discussion from a variety of points of view will help to clarify the particular features of Japanese master carpenters’ arts.
