This post is part of a blog series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Seventeen. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is to come.
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Douglas Brooks – “Japanese Rafting Boats”
The Kuma River of Japan is renowned for its whitewater. Tourists flock to the area every year for the experience of rafting down the rapids and enjoying the beautiful scenery. But long before it became a bucket-list item for foreign visitors, boatmen skilfully guided wooden craft nearly 40' long through the eddys and currents of the river to fish markets downstream. Built to flex with the river, these craft were gracefully maneuvered by two men wielding oars: one in the bow, one in the stern. Amazingly, several companies in the area continue to run these traditional craft, transporting tourists instead of goods or fish.
In 2020, massive flooding impacted the Kuma River basin. Many of the wooden river boats were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and very few maintained the knowledge of how to build them new. But boatbuilder and author Douglas Brooks had been researching these very craft, and he received a commission from a river-tour company to build six new vessels – and time was of the essence.
In Issue Seventeen, Brooks recalls the logistical hurdles of securing materials, finding a shop to use, and rounding up willing assistants for the project. Although quite experienced in Japanese boatbuilding methods, he had never built these particular craft before, and looked to an elderly boatman for advice. Gaining tremendous insight in building multiple, identical boats back-to-back, he shares his thoughts on the value of templates, batch production, and work efficiency. But most of all, he presents the value of preserving the skills and ways of traditions nearly gone.
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