Month: September 2020

Japanese DIY materials #2 Persimmon Tannin Dye “Kakishibu”

I have written a little about “kakishibu” in my previous blog Circa mid/late 19 centuries – our “new” door, but it deserves a dedicated blog post in my opinion so here it is.

History -It’s Ancient

Kakishibu
Liquid made from fermented young persimmon.

“Kakishibu” is a traditional Japanese dye or paint made from unripe persimmons which have been fermented and aged for several years. Deep amber in colour, this natural material has many benefits and it is believed to have been around in Japan for 10,000 years. It was quite commonly used for its waterproofing, desiccating, antiseptic and strengthening effects. Applied to boats, fishing nets, umbrellas and raincoats as a waterproofing agent. It was an essential material to laminate paper used in stencil printing for kimono fabrics. It was also your insect deterrent, deodoriser, remedy for high blood pressure and ointment for burns. This unique and versatile material was quite a popular household item until chemical products took over after the second World War.

As a Building Material

My handy husband applying “kakishibu” paint.

“Kakishibu” is a source of the very image many of us associate Japanese traditional architecture with – that dark colour of timber. It has been an essential material for traditional buildings for centuries. Apparently every household had a pot under the house a few hundred years ago. We always keep a bottle or two around the house ourselves but I am sure people think we are quite eccentric. It can be applied on timbers such as walls, floors, beams and furniture to keep moisture out as well as to protect it from insects such as termites. I have never applied on anything else but apparently works on paper, concrete and stone as well. You can use a paint brush or a cloth. Just take a small amount, apply it, wipe the excess off with a cloth and leave to dry for an hour or so. Repeat this two or three times. It does have a strong smell (you thought natto was bad?) but that will go in a few weeks. Unlike modern paints, it is not mixed with drying medium so it is slow drying (I have brushed against our walls and stained my clothes so be careful). But if you are fixing an old house, I highly recommend this product. It gives such a beautiful natural vintage colour to your house and newly painted parts blend in quite well. Best of all, it’s natural and safe.

Natural and Safe – No VOC

I should have talked about this aspect first. Can’t get more natural than “Kakishibu” as far as a paint goes. If you have asthma or allergies and are concerned about indoor air pollutants or Sick Building Syndrome, “kakishibu” together with “shikkui” plaster is a winner. Sadly “Kakishibu” gave way to modern paints and almost disappeared from daily life of post war Japan but it is gaining popularity again as the world turn to more healthy and environmentally sustainable alternatives.

There were three places that are particularly famous for “kakishibu” production: Minoh (Gifu), Yamashiro (Kyoto) and Bingo (Hiroshima/Okayama). So chances are you can still find quality products from these places. Here is one boutique manufacturer in Hiroshima who are doing a great job of resurrecting their highly praised craft. Takanjo – Bigo Onomichi

If you want a faster drying “kakishibu” paint that’s free from toxic substances, “RJ” in Hiroshima has a paint called “Benkei Nagomi” which come in two different shades of vintage dark brown. One of our builders told me about this and we love their stuff. Check out their other products as well, they have great natural waxes or penetrating sealers for unvarnished timber etc. These are safe and perfect for use in traditional Japanese houses.

Unlikely Patrons – Pirates and Ninja

The Seto Inland Sea, known for its beautiful archipelagos.

So this is a silly little postscript. It was good to write this blog as I learnt a lot.

Did you know there were pirates in Hiroshima, one tribe in particular called the Murakami Pirates? They were more like an unofficial navy or “samurais” of the sea, rather than terrorists and thieves as the name might suggest. Around the 15th and 16th century, the pirates controlled waterways around the Seto Inland Sea which was a crucial maritime trade route. Feared, respected and influential, they even built a castle on one of the islands entrusted with “policing ” duty by the ruling Shogun of the time, Mohri. It might sound like a synopsis of the next hit drama on Netflix but it is true. “Kakishibu” is said to have been the Pirates’ must have item. They would have used it on sailcloths, bottom of the ships and fishing nets etc. Given the geography, I would imagine Bigo “kakishibu” must have been a popular commodity for those who work around the sea much more so than that of other cities.

Kouka Ninja – One of the two major clans of ninja (Shiga Pref.)

The other unlikely association to “Kakishibu” is Ninja. People often assume they wore black but it’s actually not the best colour to hide in the dark. In those days, dying fabric in black would have cost a lot more, hence it was not the most worn colour by the ordinary civilians – and this, blending in with the crowd, is in fact one of the guidelines of ninja, according to an old ninja handbook “Shohninki (c 1681)”. “Kakishibu” dyed fabrics could have darkened in time, but black outfit could not have been so typical. There might have been some regional differences but dark brown such as “kakishibu” dye or dark blue such as indigo dye would have been more realistic, given they were supposed to be peasants, merchants, buskers or mountain priests. They certainly weren’t your muscly James Bond in a tux. Don’t quote me on any of the above though, it is just my opinions and observations based on my own research.

蘇った縁側の居心地。

完成から１年近く経った濡れ縁。が、例のごとく記録しようしようと思い、今日に至る。コロナ禍で行動が制限されているこの機会に少しずつ記録を更新しよう、と思っていたのに。

去年（2019）あたりからやっと外見を改善するリノベに着手できるようになった。今まで何年も地味で目立たない構造的な問題に予算を注ぎこまざる得なかっただけに感無量だ。

濡れ縁ができた経緯はまず一昨年（2018）、近くでまたもや古民家が取り壊された悲しいお話から始まる。偶然通りかかった立派な茶室もある趣のある家で胸が痛んだ。ブルドーザーを止めて、救えるものはないか工事現場に入れてもらう。すでに無残に破壊済みのものばかりであったが、水屋まわりの茶道具や縁側のガラス戸４枚が目に留まった。が、ガラス戸は大きすぎて車に入らない。トラックを借りるか徒歩で持ち帰るか。とりあえず一枚背負って歩き出したが、めちゃくちゃ重い。５メートルも歩くと汗だくでうずくまってしまった。こんな時に限って夫は不在。偶然にも同じ通りにウチのリノベをよく手伝ってくれる柴田ハウジングがある。お願いすると、しばらく置かせてくれるというので（感謝！）、なんとかそこまで唸りながら運ぶ。多分ものすごい形相だったのだろう。途中、見も知らぬガテン系のお兄さんが手伝ってくれて救われた。

でも、この古いガラス戸たちがウチの味気ない昭和なアルミ製ドアとすぐに交換されなかったのには理由がある。もらったガラス戸は４枚、ウチの縁側の戸は５枚。つまり１枚足りなかったのだ。これをどう調達するか決められないでいるうちに何ヶ月も経過。そんなある日、まだ１枚足りない状況に変わりはないのに、インテリアバーで武装した夫がいきなり「バリバリバリッ！」とアルミサッシのドア枠を取り外し始める。えー！と抗議する間もなく縁側は全開。必要な１枚を作ってもらうなり、ヤフオクなどで近いサイズをゲットするなり、目処を立ててから壊して欲しかった。が、「思い立ったが吉日」な夫。ドロボーようこその全開の縁側に、救ってきたガラス戸を並べ、足りないところは適当にその辺のベニア板を打ち付け、しばらくそんな鍵もかからない状態で生活することに。こうなるともう前進するのみ。急いでいつものご近所の聾唖大工チーム『スーリール』にヒノキ戸枠を特注し、ガラスを取り付けてもらい不足分の１枚が完成したところで、残りの４枚と一緒に縁側に取り付けてもらった。

昔の写真通り、木枠のガラス戸がはめられた縁側。より温かみが増した。というと、スムーズに取り付けられた感じだが、実は取り寄せたレトロな鍵が合わなかったり、ガラス戸が若干枠に合わず滑りが悪かったり、と何かと細かい調整に時間を取らせてしまった。スーリールの皆さん、いつもありがとう。

次は、縁側をより楽しもう、とアウトドア好きなオージー（夫）は、濡れ縁作りに取りかかる。問題は百年以上はそこにあったであろう縁側の下の沓脱石（くつぬぎいし）の移動だ。仏間のひいおじいちゃんの遺影にも写っているデカイ石。重い。が、私が手伝えるわけでもなく、夫ひとりでショベルで地道に掘り起こし、少しずつ少しずつ用意したパイプの上に乗せて転がして、と移動に３日ほどかかった。そこからは、さすがプロ。木材を切ってデッキを作るようなことは楽勝なようで、本業の造園の仕事（日本からリモートで）の合間にちゃちゃっと完成。ただ、石の移動があまりにも大変だったからか、濡れ縁プロジェクトが完成してから、移動された石が濡れ縁の下に収まるまで、なんでここに、と舌打ちしたくなる場所に数ヶ月は放置された。

濡れ縁のおかげで、我が家では焼き芋やバーベキューをする機会が増えた。東京から遊びに来たこれまた屋外好きな父には特に好評。日当たりのいい濡れ縁に寝転がり、うたた寝をしたり、友人とお茶を飲んだり。子供達もランドセルを放置したり、おやつを食べたり、カード遊びをしたり、よく利用している。父にとっては生家が瀕死状態から救出され、キレイになっていくのだから、喜んでくれただろう。変わって寂しく感じることもあるだろうが、何より崩壊の心配がなくなり、解体せずに済んだのだから。郵便も届かず、草木で覆われ門も開かないお化け屋敷だったのが、再び明かりが灯る家に蘇ったことは、ご近所さんも喜んでくれた。「またきれいになったね」と、犬の散歩中に新しい濡れ縁を見て声をかけてくれる。そんな小さなことが大きな励みになるんだよね。

My husband’s favorite weapon the interior bar (at his foot).
Before installing the wet deck.
多分１００年ぶりに掘り起こされた石は
縁側プロジェクトの一番の頭痛。
祖祖父の米寿の誕生日の写真にこの沓脱石が写っていた。
The stone my husband dug out is shown in this old picture
(my great-grandfather’s 88th birthday celebration, c. 1963)

“Engawa” make over – how our “Nure-en (wet deck)” was built

While I’m self-isolating for Covid-19, I thought I’d update my renovation journal but somehow time slipped away as usual. Anyway, we have done a lot last year (2019) but I hardly had time to keep record of our projects. That has to change.

One big change was the deck area. Deck inside the house is called “engawa” in Japanese and outdoor one is called “nure-en”, wet deck. I LOVE engawa. It’s my favaurite feature of traditional Japanese houses. But to talk about how we came to renovate this area, I have to go back a year when I stumbled across this old house that was being demolished by a bulldozer. Yet another house. My heart sank. A beautiful one too with a proper tea room which indicated an owner with some wealth and culture. I quickly stopped and asked the bulldozer operator if I could save a few things. The house was already quite damaged but through shuttered glasses and mountains of rubble, I managed to find a few treasures unscratched like vintage timber framed exterior glass doors and traditional tea ceremony goods. The problem was that the doors were too big for my car. The demolition guys needed me to remove them immediately. A freaky coincident is that the office of the builders that sometimes help us with our reno was on the same street. I asked them if they would store them for me while I think of ways to transport them. They obliged but now I have to move them to their office on my own somehow. My man was in Sydney which is typical when I need him. The doors were SO heavy, I only walked about 5m with one on my back and nearly collapsed in the middle of the street. I must have looked quite desperate and helpless grunting and groaning, a knight in shining armour appeared out of nowhere. He was a fit looking tradesman, how perfect. I was so thankful.

Once the stone was removed, it was like a breeze.

There is a reason it took ages afterwards before these doors were installed. We got four door but needed one more for our space. What do we do with the missing door? If we get it made, it would cost more and look new. If we try to find a similar sized vintage door in Yahoo Auction it might take time or cost to fit. My indecisiveness stopped this project from progressing further.

Months later, out of the blue my husband came armed with his favourite interior bar and started ripping the aluminum door frame of the engawa. “Oh, wait! We still don’t have the fifth door! What about plan first?” Before I could protest, that side of our house was wide open. Looking satisfied, he randomly placed the four doors along the engawa and covered the gap with some shabby veneer. That’s how we slept the next few months. No lock. Lucky we live in such a safe neighborhood. Now this was my cue to move this project forward. I called my speech-impaired team of wood workers “Sourire”, got a quote for a new timber frame glass door as well as installation of all the doors and locks. We also needed to replace sliding door timber tracks, both top and bottom. I wanted vintage Japanese brass locks so ordered them online. It took many little adjustments before the doors fit well and rolled on the tracks smoothly. The locks took a little bit of care too because of their mechanism but my trusty silent team did it again, the whole area looks more cosy and inviting now, very satisfying results.

This wasn’t the end of the engawa project for my husband. He wanted to maximise the use of this space by adding a deck to the other side of those doors. The outdoor engawa is called “nure-en”, a wet deck. I was initially worried about making our yard smaller but that was not a concern of my husband. I decided to leave it to the hard working professional outdoor space creator. The biggest hurdle was moving all by himself a huge stepping stone which must have sat there for a century. We can see it in a black and white photo hanging in the house, of my great-grandfather’s 88th birthday party.

Digging and moving the stone little by little by using pipes, it took him about three days, while he still had to attend to his work matters back in Sydney whenever necessary. Once the stone was clear out of his way, it took no time to install deck boards. The stone must have been such a nuisance for him, it stayed there in that most inconvenient spot in the middle of the yard for ages before it was moved again under the new deck.

The wet deck became a very popular spot for all the family members. We have BBQs there, teas and coffees with friends there, kids playing card games there after school. Perhaps the biggest fan of the deck is my father who comes to visit us occasionally from Tokyo. He loves having a nap there. It means a lot to me that he loves what we’ve done. This is the house he grew up in and he left it in such a devastating state until we took on the renovation task. Sometimes I find him reminiscing the old times and detect a hint of sadness. I think he must feel a tiny little sad his childhood house is changing. But at least it is not on the verge of collapse anymore and we stopped it from having to demolish the house. While ago I was assured by one of our tradesmen that the house is now secure for at least another 50 years. Our kids also love the house and it will be theirs in time. I hope my father finds comfort in that.

A lay of sunshine is hitting on the deck. It was a beautiful morning. Our neighbour is walking her dog “Love-chan” as usual. She stops in front of the house and notices the change. “Oh, you house is looking better and better, isn’t it. Great work!”. Small gestures like that encourage me to do better.