Nails made in an old way, Horyuji Temple

Steel nails produced by Japanese traditional way don't tend to rust, unlike the ones today. For example, the nails driven into 1,400 years old structures in Horyuji Temple, one of the oldest temples in Japan, are covered with the layer of black rust and still in use. Today's steel nails of mass production, on the other hand, will rust out only within some decades years.

There are main three reasons why the traditional nails don't rust completely.

1. The old nails contain less sulfur(S), manganese(Mn), silicon(Si) and more titanium(Ti) than today's nails. S, Mn, Si and some Oxygen make steel rust out easily and titanium keep it from rusting.
2. The old contains many layers that can produce the black rust and the rust keep it away from rusting inside the nails.
3. The old nails are used at structure made of cypress with better quality and the material tend to keep water away from going into inside the wood.

The first is that today's nails are added to Mn to improve the workability and Si to get rid of Oxygen in the steel. And coke is used as fuels to get steel out of iron stones in melting furnaces. Coke contains much sulfur. Meantime, raw material, sand iron, of the old steel contained much Mn and Si but the old way of making steel changed into it with less Mn and Si. Wood charcoal, less sulfur than coke, are used to as fuels to make the old steel.

By the way, fired charcoal makes things lower temperature than the fired coke. Fired charcoal make them about 1,200 to 1,300 degrees C and the coke about 1,400 to 1,500 degrees C. The new way of making steel with high temperature of fired coke is more effective than the old way but easy to allow the steel contain much more impurities because of the high temperature.

Plus, the old steel were made of iron sand with richer titanium than iron stone today.

So, the old steel used to be made in less effective way than the new but has better quality.

The second is that many hits are needed to make steel in old way to emit slag from the steel. Many hits make many layers inside the steel that will produce the coat to keep it from rusting.

The third is that quality cypress wood was used in the structure in the major temples. Cypress will not be weakened in a thousand years because the numbers of cellulose, composed of cypress, is almost the same as the thousand years old wood. An old device, called Yari-ganna, would use to give the finishing touches of wooden pillars or beams. The old device is by far more ineffective than the new devices but this never hurt cells on the surface of wood, unlike the new. So the wood finished by the old tool don't tend to take water or oxygen inside the wood, and don't tend to be hurt, protecting the driven nails.

The above three reasons make the old nails last long. But no nails made in the classic way are used in the wooden buildings except the high-ranking temples. This kinds of nails are not needed any more now. Because many buildings last too much shorter than the old nails. Many factors in Japanese society don't need long-life buildings.

Order, Horyuji Temple

This photo is shot from just outside of an outer gate of Horyuji Temple, Nara. This temple is, first of all, famous for the oldest wooden structure in the world. Over the opening of the gate are seen a five-story pagoda and an inner gate side by side.

This old historic temple is in Nara, where is near Kyoto and the older capital city than Kyoto. Nara is the first capital in Japan and had been the capital from 600 to 800. The second is Kyoto, from 800 to 1600. Tokyo has been the third capital since 1600. (Kamakura, near Tokyo, had been also the capital from 1200 to 1300.)

By the way, this view, created by the pagoda and the outer and inner gate, is very compositional. These are set out in a well balanced. This temple has an order, unlike Kyoto.

This temple has many must-see's, from a lot of excellent images of Buddha to a series of architecture. The composition, I think, is one of best of all points of view in the temple. The temple is also a place for having made the first Constitution in Japan about 1,400 years ago. In those days, people needed the order, anyway, to make the country united and people's lives better.

This temple doesn't have any sensitivity and ambiguity, created by the nature and featured one of Kyoto's beauties.

A structure in Nanzenji Temple

This is a brick-made bridge for supplying clean water in the middle of Kyoto city and pass through a site of Nanzenji Temple, one of biggest temples in Kyoto and the highest ranking temple of all Zen temples in Kyoto. The bridge was built about 120 years ago, making the most of the Western technique of civil engineering.

This structure has conveyed supply water from Biwa Lake, the biggest lake in Japan and near Kyoto, to Kyoto.

By the way, what brought the structure in the site of the highest-ranking temple? Some said that the new government in those days built this structure not only to supply water into Kyoto but also to harass the temple. This temple got a lot of benefits from the old government, which was overthrown by the new government. So the new government in those days is said to have disliked the temple.

But now, this old structure adds a fascinating sightseeing spot to the temple, thanks to the harassment.
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Three kinds of water fallings, Kiyomizu-dera, Temple

These are small falling waters in a site of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the most popular temple in Kyoto.

People are waiting in line for the water. Only taking a sip, not two, of water makes one's wish come true. The left falling water is for making people get smarter, the middle is for one's lasting love each other and the right is for one's good health.

But don't be greedy! Sipping two or three different falling water fails to make your wish come true. Only one sipping water out of three is allowed for people to grant their wish at a time. In other words, we should go there three times to grant all the wishes. This temple has a good business sense, anyway.

Down to the falling water are put two square stones and one round stone for each.(They are outside the photo.) These are put for performing cold water ablutions for training. Monks are said to stand on the round stone for praying and then they stand on the square stones for the ablutions.

By the way, Kiyomizu(清水) out of Kiyomizu-dera(清水寺) Temple means clean or pure water and the name comes from rich water there.

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a five story pagoda, Daigoji Temple

This five-story pagoda is in temple and was made for storing a tiny piece, a drop of swallow's tears in Japanese, of Buddha's bone. This kind of the tower came from China about 1,500 years ago.

This pagoda was made about 1,000 years ago and one of greatest pagodas in Japan, feeling the power of ancient times and the elegance of the medieval times.

By the way, Japan has had many big earthquakes but they have failed to destroy the pagodas. There are many reasons why the pagoda never fall down by the earthquakes. One of them is that no nails is driven into the framework of the structure. The joints of the main parts of the structure are connected just like pieces of three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. As time passes, the wood has shrunk to some degrees and small gaps between the joints come into being. The gaps and the pliability of wood can absorb the shock of earthquakes.

Cut-down wood for building the structure is needed to be left outside or in the warehouse for some years to go off water inside the wood. If wood is used just after cutting down, the wood shrinks very much after the construction.

Round wood will be cracked if they are left outside for a long time. To avoid the crack, surprisingly, it is best for round woods to be stored into the water. After stored into the water for four or five years, the wood will have less cracks, have better quality, and water goes off from it more smooth. Plus, the color of the wood will be nice and the wood will emit a nicely odor.

Cypress-shingled roof, Ginkakuji Temple

This is shot early in the morning in winter and frost elegantly decorate the roof.

The upcoming sun rays, making the earth breathing, will soon melt down the frost.

The natural-made structure goes with the earth softly.

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Golden Pavilion, Kingakuji Temple

This is another angle of Golden Pavilion. The surrounding nature, trees behind and the pond in front of it, makes the Pavilion more elegant.

Related article
http://artofjpn2.blogspot.com/2007/01/golden-pavilion.html

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One of the biggest wooden gates in Japan: Todaiji Temple

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

This is Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the most sightseeing spot in Kyoto.

I guess the three reasons are why the temple is so popular.

The first is the great vista: The main temple is on the hillside and we can enjoy the large part of Kyoto city from the extended veranda of main temple. The second is the change of the scenery: The site is on the hillside and as we move around the site, we can enjoy the change of the scenery, the rich green in early summer, the maple leaves in autumn and cherry blossoms in spring. The third is the popularity itself: travelers want to go there because it is popular.

By the way, the center of the extended veranda has no roof. This veranda is originally for performing Noh-dancing, one of traditional Japanese dances, toward gods in the sky and the gods could not see the dancing if the veranda had roof.

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An old viewfinder: Saihoji Temple

This round window is close to a garden with the rich natural surroundings and was made some hundred years ago. The window is attached to a small waiting room. People in those days used to enjoy the scenery while waiting for a tea ceremony. Perhaps people in Japan in those days love something of a camera??

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