Carpenter's tools used for tsugite

Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponica) classifies carpenter's tools by use: tools for measuring and marking, tools for cutting, tools for planing, and tools for digging and boring holes, among others^[1]. This article takes up the saw (nokogiri), chisel (nomi), plane (kanna), ink pot (sumitsubo) and carpenter's square (kanejaku) from among them, and introduces the role of each and what can be confirmed in references about its name and history. It does not cover how to use the tools or how to cut joints.

Cutting: the saw (nokogiri)

A saw that cuts along the grain of the wood is called a rip saw (tatebiki nokogiri), and one that cuts across the grain is called a crosscut saw (yokobiki nokogiri)^[2].

The details of the history of the saw in Japan differ between references. Japanese Wikipedia gives the first appearance of the saw as finds from the Kofun period, and says that in the Kamakura period crosscut saws came to be used at building sites but could not cut lengthwise. In the Muromachi period, the oga, a large two-person rip saw, was introduced from the continent and the Korean peninsula^[4].

The date of the oga's introduction varies by dictionary. Sekai Daihyakka Jiten says it is said to have come from China around the 14th to 15th century, and Britannica Kokusai Daihyakka Jiten says it is said to have been introduced around the 14th century. Digital Daijisen says it came from China in the Muromachi period, and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten says it came from Ming China in the early Muromachi period. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho says it seems to have been in use in Japan by the middle of the Muromachi period^[3]. Sekai Daihyakka Jiten and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten both give the length as about 2 m, and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten describes it as pulled alternately from both sides by two people^[3].

Digging: the chisel (nomi)

The nomi is a tool used to bore holes^[1]. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho states that many kinds of iron woodworking tools have been excavated from tombs of the 4th to 7th centuries, and that in this period the basic carpenter's tools, except for marking tools, were almost complete: the axe, adze (chona), chisel, spear plane (yari-ganna), saw, knife (tosu) and awl (kiri)^[1].

The nomi is said to be the carpenter's cutting tool with the greatest number of types. It divides broadly into the tataki-nomi, which is struck with a hammer (genno), and the tsuki-nomi (finishing chisel), which is pushed by hand. The tsuki-nomi is used for finishing, clearing the traces left in a hole that has been dug^[5]. The same commentary derives the name oiire-nomi from its use of "driving in after" (ou) a crosspiece to a post^[5]. The ooire of shiguchi is also called oiire^[14][15].

Planing: the plane (kanna)

The kanna is a tool that planes the surface of timber smooth. The time when the dai-ganna, a plane with its blade set in a wooden body, appeared differs by dictionary. Sekai Daihyakka Jiten says the dai-ganna of today appeared in Japan in the latter half of the 16th century, and Digital Daijisen and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten say it was made in the Muromachi period. Britannica Kokusai Daihyakka Jiten says a push-type dai-ganna came from China in the 15th to 16th century and took its present form in the middle of the Edo period^[7]. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho places it around the 16th century^[6]. Before the dai-ganna, the yari-ganna was used, with a leaf-shaped blade on the end of a long handle^[6]. The dai-ganna is used to finish the surfaces of boards and posts^[7]. Kanna come in types such as the hira-ganna (flat), mizo-ganna (groove) and maru-ganna (round), according to the shape of the surface being planed^[6].

Marking: the ink pot (sumitsubo) and the sumisashi

The sumitsubo is a tool for drawing a long straight line on the surface of timber. Digital Daijisen describes it as a carpenter's tool that draws an ink line by snapping a line with the finger^[8]. Kinomachi Web explains that the sumitsubo in its present form, with the pot, line and reel in one body, was established in China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period^[9]. The same commentary says that in Japan ink lines remain on the original timbers of Horyu-ji but no sumitsubo itself survives^[9]. According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, this one-body sumitsubo is used in China and in other regions that the Chinese civilization reached, such as the Korean peninsula and Southeast Asia, while those of Europe and America are of a separate type. Carpenters once made them themselves, but in the Meiji period specialist carvers (horimono-shi) came to make them^[10].

The sumisashi is a spatula-shaped bamboo pen for drawing lines and writing characters. It is used together with the sumitsubo^[11].

Measuring: the carpenter's square (kanejaku)

The kanejaku is an L-shaped ruler, also called sashigane^[12]. The front carries a scale of regular length. The back carries the kakume (also called urame), about 1.4 times the front scale, and the marume, the front scale divided by pi^[12][13]. The kakume is a scale that lets one read the width of the square timber that can be cut from a log of a given diameter^[12]. Nihon Kokugo Daijiten gives as its earliest example the entry "kanejaku nikō" in the "Chikuzen-no-kuni Kanzeon-ji shizai-cho" of 905^[12].

See them in 3D

• Tsugite made by cutting away and overlapping: Aigaki-tsugi, Daimochi-tsugi
• Tsugite made by cutting away and interlocking: Kanawa-tsugi, Okkake-daisen-tsugi
• Shiguchi in which the receiving member is cut into: Ooire-ari-kake
• All joints