13' Ritsurin Garden Boat, Takamatsu, Japan (2017)

In 2017 I was asked to build a boat for Ritsurin Koen, considered one of Japan’s three most famous gardens. The Garden has extensive ponds and an earlier tour boat had proved so popular the Garden wanted another. Unfortunately the original boatbuilder had passed away so I was contacted. I built the boat over a one-month period. It is not a traditional Japanese design, but I used traditional methods in its construction, including edge-nailing planking. The bottom is hinoki (cypress) and the side planking and transoms are sugi (cedar). The boat is propelled with a bamboo pole.