The Genius of Japanese Carpentry

The book explores the 1,200-year-old Yakushiji monastery in Nara Prefecture, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the craftspeople involved in its restoration. Although completion is scheduled for 2030, key structures such as the Picture Hall have been rebuilt using materials, tools and techniques passed down for over a millennium.

First published over thirty years ago, the book documents the restoration through interviews with carpenters, drawings based on master carpenter Nishioka Tsunekazu’s plans and photographs. Rather than a practical manual, it serves as a record of Japanese architectural heritage, illuminating cultural continuity and craftsmanship.

Azby Brown is a US-born author and scholar of Japanese architecture who has lived in Japan since 1985. His work on carpentry, sustainable design and compact housing has helped introduce these fields to international audiences.

He joined the Faculty of Architecture at Kanazawa Institute of Technology in 1995 and later founded the KIT Future Design Institute in Tokyo, where he conducted interdisciplinary research on the role of the human hand in creativity, in collaboration with neuroscientists and psychologists.

21.5 x 1.2 x 27.9 cm

160 pages