Necks on the block

We have a plan! On Saturday, the Kagatsuma contractor came over with the plan and a final estimate. And, after discussing several points--such as a plan to stain the wood columns, ceilings and floors--we wound up with an agreement and a fairly stable timetable. We are now looking at reality in the face, and committed to getting this done by the end of the year at the very latest.

We also took a look at a few more parts of the old house that we want to use in the new one, and were hit by a small disappointment. We'd been hoping to use our tokobashira, the post at the corner of the tokonoma alcove, in the same place of the tokonoma in the new house. The post is not especially valuable or unique, but it has just enough character to be a humble part of the tokonoma. You can see in the photo at the top where the carpenters eighty years ago left just enough of the shape of the tree showing. What we discovered though is that it is cracked about eight feet up, and it looks like it goes all the way through. Since the placement is in the center of the house and it should be strong structurally, it looks like we'll have to give it up. Most of the other bits of the house that we want to use are about the same age. We won't really find out whether they're usable or not until we take it apart, and taking apart an old Japanese house is a real puzzle.


What I won't be missing is the present electrical system. When we were doing a slight reform of the kitchen a few years ago, I was climbing in the ceiling space with the electrician, and we found several of the ceramic pieces used for insulation would actually crumble when we touched them. We rewired a lot of it but there are still a few places like the connection in this photo which I'll be glad to see the last of.