chounahajime　釿始

KEY WORD :　architecture / general terms

Also written 釿初, 手斧初. Also called kozukuri hajime 木造り始め or onohajime 斧始め. A carpenter's ceremony performed after New Year's, usually around January 5. Believed to have originated in the Heian period, the ceremony is performed by carpenters on the day work is to begin on a new building. The master carpenter first performs a ritual using a saw *nokogiri 鋸. He then makes ink markings, sumiuchi 墨打, with a *sumitsubo 墨壷, the tool which holds the ink and marking string and then uses an adze *chouna 釿 to make ceremonial chips at the lower, middle and upper parts of a timber. The final part of the ceremony requires the master carpenter to use a plane *kanna 鉋, to carve the character for water mizu 水, very lightly into one member. This part of the ritual is called kiyoganna-no-shiki 清鉋の式 or itashikiganna 板敷鉋.

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