Japanese Joinery Handbook

By Ryan Phlean

You've admired Japanese joinery in photographs - the impossibly tight splice, the corner joint holding four members at once with no metal in sight.Structures built this way have carried live and seismic loads for over a thousand years without a single fastener in their primary frame. Admiration is easy. Understanding why the joint was cut that way, and how to cut one yourself, is a different kind of knowledge entirely.
Japanese Joinery Handbook closes that gap. This is a systematic, working guide to kigumi - the practice of joining wood to wood through precisely cut, interlocking geometry rather than nails, screws, or glue - built from first principles rather than presented as a gallery of impressive shapes.
Inside, you'll learn how to: Select the right joint for a given structural or furniture-scale applicationLay out and cut mortise-and-tenon, splice, corner, and lap joint families using traditional marking systemsRead and evaluate joint fit, and diagnose the most common causes of a poor oneApply core joinery principles to both new construction and restoration workScale the same underlying logic from full timber framing and roof geometry down to furniture, screens, and kumiko latticeAcross five parts and sixteen chapters, this handbook moves from the history and philosophy behind the craft, through wood selection, tools, and hand-skill fundamentals, into the major joint families, structural and furniture-scale application, and professional practice and preservation. Black-and-white instructional illustrations, a glossary of Japanese joinery terms, and quick-reference appendices are built into the back matter to stay open on a workbench, not just read once and shelved. It's written for woodworkers, furniture makers, timber framers, architecture and preservation students, and restoration professionals alike, and asks nothing of prior experience beyond basic hand-tool comfort.
No book replaces years at a bench. What this one offers is the systematic, accurate foundation that makes every hour you spend at that bench count for more.Pick up a chisel, and start with Chapter 1.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HDD4NPM6
• ISBN13: 9798191283746
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.5" x 11.0"