Leonard Palmer

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Japanese Boat Building Workshop


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Japanese Boat Building Workshop

和船 (Wasen): The Art and Craft of Japanese Boatbuilding

Winter 2023
Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies Harvard University

Instructor: Douglas Brooks

I had the pleasure of participating in a traditional Japanese boat building workshop organized by the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and led by boat builder Douglas Brooks. As a class of 12 students, we built a 22ft long, 4ft wide river boat using traditional tools and techniques, observing, feeling, and listening to how the wood responds. It was a refreshing exprience to learn to use hand tools and analog techniques, coming in with experience at the school’s woodshop where mechanical tools often force and shape the wood into digitally precise geometries. Special thanks to Gavin Whitelaw, Jenni Ting, Stacie Matsumoto, and Sky Araki-Russel for making this happen! More information on the class and exhibition that followed: https://rijs.fas.harvard.edu/in-the-making-wasen-and-lessons-japanese-wooden-boatbuilding


Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
Photo by Martha Stewart
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