In 2024 I was asked to build a boat for a private Japanese garden in Texas. The client wanted a design with as much interior spaces as possible for a sixteen foot length. I chose a design I had seen in Sawara, Chiba, a small canal boat I measured. I also interviewed a former builder of these boats.

Sawara today is a well-known tourist destination with beautifully maintained historic buildings and warehouses fronting on the various canals running through the town center. Boat tours are available and a few older wooden boats can be found. The type is known as a sappabune or “bamboo leaf boat.”

Sappabune are pram-like with transoms fore and aft, thereby providing a lot of interior space. The bow transom is two pieces and peaked slightly. I built the boat of Atlantic white cedar, probably more similar to Japanese cedar in terms of density than any other North American wood. I finished the boat with decks and rub rails of cypress to provide more abrasion resistance.