Tools are so important to carpenters that they are called “extensions of the hand.” Therefore, carpenters have carefully cared for and handled tools that are also consumables. Miya carpenters who continue to “talk” with wood, of course, have a particular commitment and attachment to tools, and in many cases the craftsmen themselves make all the tools used to process wood. It is no exaggeration to say that the work of a palace carpenter begins with the maintenance of tools and ends with the maintenance of tools.
For example, fleas. This plays a very important role in the “wooden structure” that cannot be separated even if it is cut when processing a wooden building. Japanese buildings have been built by a method called “wooden construction”. “Joints” that connect trees in the same direction, “Kumite” that connects trees in the same direction, and “joints” that join members in different directions such as columns, beams, and L-shaped parts of the base. It is said that there are more than 100 types such as “Shiguchi”. The tool that creates a unique shape like this puzzle is the “flea”. Used to tap the handle to make a groove or dig a sculpture. It is said that it takes more than 10 years to master all of the different blade shapes, such as tapping and thrusting chisel.
