As Japan’s last generation of boatbuilders has almost disappeared,
the work of learning, mastering, and documenting traditional Japanese boatbuilding is crucial.

Since 1990, I have been deeply involved in researching the boatbuilding traditions of Japan. In almost thirty trips, I have traveled to all forty-seven of Japan’s prefectures and along most of the country’s coastline finding, studying, and measuring traditional boats and interviewing boatbuilders. The craft was infused with secrecy and many boatbuilders worked without drawings, instead relying entirely on memorized dimensions and ratios. Working alongside them, my work is to record their design secrets and techniques. My teachers have been in their seventies and eighties when I worked with them, and I am the sole apprentice for seven of my nine masters. To date I have written five books, two book chapters, and numerous articles based on this research. I also include apprentices in my projects in Japan and teach Japanese boatbuilding workshops.

I am available for custom projects as well as educational and replica projects for museums and educational institutions.