Australian Wood Review - June 2018

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http://www.woodreview.com.au 57

WOODTURNING

Most Japanese don’t know about the
turners, but there are thousands of
them still producing an astonishing
quantity of work at a rate that would
leave most Western turners gasping.
A traditional Japanese apprenticeship
is hard and the emphasis is on speed,
efficiency and accuracy. Innovation
is not usually prized and faithful
reproduction is paramount.

Japanese turners are very protective of
their ‘trade secrets’. The importance
of this conservatism is explained well
by Endo Motoo in his book Nihon
Shokunin Shi (A History of Japanese
Tradesmen), published in 1967. He
states: ‘If you learned a trade in the
past, what you learned was defined
by the clan or community where you
learned it. Technology was considered
secret and never shared.

The individual tradesmen were strictly

bound by these traditions and if

they attempted to step out of this

arrangement, it meant they lost their

livelihood’. This attitude still prevails.

I asked one prominent leader of a

turning community if he thought

an amateur movement such as exists

in the West could ever happen in

Japan. He snorted with contempt

and uttered one word: ‘Never!’

Different regions sometimes

specialise in certain products, so

one town may specialise in dolls,

another will specialise in lacquered

bowls, while another might produce

containers. The turning techniques

also vary from place to place. The tool

rest that most Japanese use is often

called the uma, or horse, because it is

free-standing and has four legs. Some

are inclined, some are horizontal,

while some incorporate a space to

wedge tools while sharpening.

For some turners the tool rest is

a simple pole rested on a frame

(photo 2). In many regions the

turners sit at 90° to the axis of

rotation, while in others they sit

end-on, facing the headstock. The

variations are many and they highlight

how the woodturning populations

value and preserve tradition.

Japanese turners forge their own tools

using small air-blown kilns fed with

charcoal. Simple rods of tool steel

are hammered over rounded anvils

and quenched when the colour is just

right. The ends are forged into a tang

and turned handles are fitted. Tools

are generally of two kinds, hook tools

Main: A student at the Yamanaka Training

Centre practices finishing a platter with

a scraper. She is seated and controls the

direction of rotation with foot pedals. Her

uma is horizontal and easily moved on the

flat table.

1. A display of turned wares in Japan


2. Mr Tanaka sits facing the headstock
   and his simple tool rest can be moved
   without changing hand positions.