Preserving the Art of Japanese Boatbuilding Crafts - talking with Douglas Brooks

Seek Sustainable Japan

Douglas Brooks has spent his career as an apprentice, researcher, and teacher of traditional Japanese wooden boats. Doug's home base is in Vermont, USA, but he has been to Japan over 25 times and has been to all 47 prefectures of Japan to research, build and even teach at various Japanese boatmaking projects. #japan #boatbuilding #woodenboats #craft #japaneseculture

We catch up with Doug here while he is finishing a set of boats in Kagawa, Japan this month- so this is a fantastic chance to catch up with him in the same time zone and talk about his apprenticeships, book, work, passion, and insights for the traditional art of Japanese boatbuilding.

Douglas Brooks Links:

https://linktr.ee/douglasbrooks

From his website: Douglas has many years of experience training with masters of traditional Japanese boatbuilding, building boats himself, running workshops and seminars for students and is the author of the book "Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding". About the book: "This is the story of my apprenticeships with Japanese masters to build five unique and endangered traditional boats. It is part ethnography, part instruction, and part my personal reflections on preserving a craft tradition on the brink of extinction. Over the course of 17 trips to Japan, I have travelled over 30,000 miles to seek out and interview Japan’s elderly master boat builders; I built boats with five of them, all in their seventies and eighties, between 1996 and 2010. For most of them, I was their sole and last apprentice." Order a signed copy of the book from Douglas Brooks website: http://www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/japanese_wooden_boatbuilding.html

Please support Joy's work producing & hosting the Seek Sustainable Japan talkshow-podcast

Joy (JJ) is originally from Hawaii and long-time Hiroshima-based guide, entrepreneur, writer, content-creator, educator and consultant focused on positive solutions for more sustainable travel and business in Japan.

Co-founder GetHiroshima | Founder InboundAmbassador

Business Website: https://www.inboundambassador.com/

My view of sustainability = creating a better future for all by balancing the needs of people and planet with profits.

|| SUPPORT joy by joining as a monthly member:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjRdeieOLGes008y_I9y5Q/join

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jjwalsh

BuyMeACoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jjwalsh

-------------------------------

Big thanks to Casey Bean for the background music used in this podcast. The Beanpod - Casey Bean - listen in to Casey's stories of life in rural Japan https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-beanpod-podcast/id1466025228