Horyuji Temple is the world’s oldest wooden building and one of the oldest temples in Japan, so it’s little wonder that it was Japan’s first World Heritage site! Today, a dozen or so Australian architects, engineers, and developers visited the temple, which dates back to the early days of Japanese Buddhism, with the main hall (or Kondō) rebuilt 1,300 years ago.
On Kondō, Graham Sayer, director of Japanese Lumber—a native New Zealander with deep relationships with sawmills and merchants across Japan—said the 1300-year-old structure was built using a system known as Sashimono, a construction system that does not use complex joints.
“When you see its height, you just think to yourself, how on earth can they construct something that is that safe and high without using metal fixing or nails? But they did it, and there is a lesson for us today,” Sayer said, adding that it is a “direct descendant of the modern post-and-beam systems, which certainly do have metal fixings, nails and bolts.”
According to Sayer, Japan has used timber in its buildings for centuries, all built to withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters: “The timber culture comes from the fact that bricks weren’t introduced until the 1860s (by Germans). So it’s not a civilisation built on bricks (or stone) like many European civilisations.”
Established by Prince Shōtoku in 607, all buildings in the temple were burnt down following a lightning strike in 670. Rebuilt 1,300 years ago, the Kondō (main hall) is widely considered the world’s oldest wooden building, with a 2001 tree ring survey revealing that the shinbashira of the five-story pagoda was cut down in 594, before it burned down in 670.
In addition to visiting the temple, all delegates on the WoodSolutions-sponsored tour will today experience traditional processing, forestry and carpentry demonstrations: “Guided by experts, we will look at the traditional joint method, log polishing and Shou Sugi Ban charred timber,” according to Andrew Dunn, of the Timber Development Association.
Please note: Wood Central will have exclusive coverage of the tour all week. Click here for insights from the first and second days of the tour. To learn why Japan has grounds to operate the world’s oldest sustainably managed forest plantation, with origins in 1725, click here for more information.
