Miyadaiku (Temple and Shrine Carpenters)
Today, I’d like to talk about the Japanese job category “miyadaiku.”
宮大工
Daiku means carpenters, and miyadaiku means carpenters who build and repair only traditional Japanese architectures, such as temples and shrines.
今日は、日本の職業「宮大工」を紹介します。
Temples and shrines are built by using a unique Japanese construction method called “kigumi” (timberwork), which don’t use nails or bolts.
宮大工は、神社やお寺など、伝統的な建物の建築や補修を手掛ける大工職人のことです。
Kigumi is a method that builds architectures by combining timbers that are logged to complex shapes.
寺社の建築は、釘を使わない「木組み」という日本独自の工法で行われます。
If the height of the architecture is high, miyadaiku will design it so as to distribute the gravity.
木組みは、複雑な形に切り出した木をはめ合わせて組み上げる工法で、高い建物では重力を分散するように設計します。
Since this technique is important to preserve cultural assets, it is designated as a selected preservation technique.
この技術は文化財保存のために必要な技術であるため、国から「選定保存技術」に指定されています。
