A couple of years after I returned from Japan, my teacher, Shoji Yoshida, his son, Akio, and a younger carpenter who worked with him, Hatsuo Kanomata, came for a visit, so I tried to come up some work for them while they were here.  All I could find was someone who wanted a garage, but fortunately he was happy to have them build a temple style garage.  We got a bunch of poplar from a local sawmill, which was inexpensive and easy to work but checked badly, so they were not too impressed with it.  Yoshida designed an irimoya or hipped gable roof, with the traditional temple roof shape of a downward curve of the roofline and upward flare at the corners.  It was a great opportunity to see the whole process, including the design, layout and joinery.  The roof came out well and we ordered all the traditional Japanese tile, including all the decorative eave and gable tile, from Japan.  After the carpenters went home, the tile arrived and a Japanese tile installer was supposed to come out from California.  It would have been one of the only traditional temple roof style buildings in this country, but unfortunately it was never completed.  

Temple style building, MD

Daiku Woodworking

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