Report on the Yamazaki house’s Okudosan restoration work ~ Yamazaki house’s Okudosan restoration work has been completed and it has been brought back to life!
Yoshie Doi
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Seven people were in charge of the Okudosan construction on the final day.
Junji Miyaoku, who has been in charge of the restoration work since March.
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Adjust the pot so that it is horizontal Everyone working together
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Final finishing coat
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Miyaoku-san presses the seal and sees it through.
The final work on the Yamazaki house’s Okudosan restoration work began at 9:00 am on October 28, 2023. First, we offered sacred sake and salt to Okudosan, prayed with our hands together for a successful completion, and then the work began. Seven plasterers gathered from all over the country and began work on the seven-mouthed Okudosan, led by Miyaoku-san.
The restoration work started in March 2023 and was completed on October 28th. The final finishing touch is the clay wall that was fermented during the summer. Once the first layer of clay wall absorbs water and feels just right, a second coat of primer is applied, and the craftsman checks to make sure that the wall is almost completely dry. Because the degree of fermentation is different, the color of the clay wall is slightly different. The work proceeded by making sure that the iron ring of the pot was level.
After lunch, the final step was to carefully paint the white walls. After applying, use their hands to check how well the moisture has evaporated, and at the moment when they want the most beautiful finish, apply pressure 2 to 5 mm with a trowel to finish. Then, the clay walls began to shine. It was a surprise. I was able to see up close the work of craftsmen who can see the touch of the human hand, check with the eye, feel, and have a clear sense of the craftsman’s intuition. It was a day where I reaffirmed that the work that cannot be done by machines is a wonderful product that condenses the energy of nature, fermented by Japanese masters using soil, water, and sunlight.
The 9-hour drama ended with the culmination of many years of experience and feelings. Cheers to the painstaking restoration work!
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Translated by Masami Otani
