Kyoto Wooden Pail

With its characteristically plain design but refined finish, the Kyoto wooden pail (Kyō-oke) is a common sight in traditional Kyoto life. Only wood with beautiful grain such as cedar, cypress and Japanese umbrella pine produced is used to make wooden containers with various shapes and sizes. With continued use over long years, the cedar wood will take on a deeper colour, while the bamboo hoop turns into a shiny amber colour, the silver an oxidized appearance and the copper a bronze colour.

Here is the process of how the Kyoto wooden pail, in this case a washing bucket for a Japanese traditional bath, is made. First, wood is split using a sickle.

The sides are shaved to the desired finish using a shōjikidai, an upside-down planing block with the shaving blade facing up after the surface is sanded down with a plane.

 

The degree of slant required for the side wood pieces to narrow from top to bottom is calculated.

Blocks with the same kind of wood grain are selected in order to present the beauty of the grain, as well as to prevent any distortion or contraction.

The selected blocks are temporarily lined along temporary ring in such order that the grain of one block matches the next.

A plane for shaving the block ends is used to even out the upper block ends.

Excess parts of the lower block ends are sawn off along the marked line and shaved down using a plane. 

The thickness of the bucket is marked using the line-marking gauge.

A round plane is used to shave the inner side.

A cutting gauge is used to mark the line around the bucket where the bottom board will sit.

Copper wire is cut to the length that fits along the groove, with the ends smoothed out. The wire is then wound around a cylinder to shape the wire into a circle.

The finished hoops are inserted into the grooves. The bottom hoop is left loosely attached to allow for the insertion of the bottom board later.

The bottom board is cut to the drawn circle using a band-sawing machine. The side of the bottom board is cut to the angle of the groove at this point. The bottom board is not cut into a perfect circle; it is cut into an slight oval shape to allow for the contraction of the wood depending on the direction of the wood grain. 

A metal rod called kigoroshibō is used to press the edge of the bottom board down to slightly reduce the size.

Once perfectly fitted into the groove, the remaining untightened hoop is tightened where marked.

The inner draw knife is used to shave the inner part of the side blocks and the outer draw knife is used to shave the outer part. The artisan wears a stomach band and pushed against the block of wood used to clamp the side wood block in place. 

Pattern pieces for ensuring that the side blocks join smoothly. Various types are used according to the size of the pail to be made. These pieces are originally created by the artisan to accurate measurements.

There is the line-marking gauge and the cutting gauge. The former cuts into the wood, while the latter is used to mark a line on the wood. The blade of the line-marking gauge is rounded to prevent cutting into the wood.

This type of bucket is made with the refined, thin wood typical of Kyoto wooden pail. It comes with a strong, thick handle. Particular attention is also given to the beautiful surface finish.

This is used for carrying food and enhancing the presentation of the food.

This is the Kondo Kyoto Wooden Pail Workshop at Murasakino, Kyoto. Planes can be seen filling up the wall space.