14' Japanese Tenmasen Canal Boat (2014)

Based on a traditional Tokyo canal boat, I built this tenmasen for the Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, Illinois. Working from designs I studied of my teacher Mr. Kazuyoshi Fujiwara in Tokyo, the boat features the thick stems of this type, clad in copper for protection. This boat is planked entirely of southern cypress, and I used the Japanese method of fastening the rub rails to the sheer plank using a copper clench nail bent into a mortise inside the planking. I have now built boats for four Japanese gardens, three in the United Starts and one in Japan.