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Castle Maintenance, the Traditional Way 1
A Stone Wall Builder
Awata Junji of the Ano-shu Guild
Written by Furui Asako
Photos by Omori Hiroyuki
Rocks and boulders support a castle's main tower and hold up the tall ramparts around the moats. The Ano-shu Guild is famous for laying this kind of stonework.Ishiku stone layers in the guild are based in Ano-no-sato in the Sakamoto district of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. Over the centuries, guild workers have erected many stone walls, some of them at famous castles like Azuchi Castle (near Kyoto), Himeji Castle (near Kobe), and Edo Castle (in central Tokyo). Scholars believe they even laid the huge boulders for some ancient tombs as long ago as the 6th century. The guild first appears in historical records from the end of the Warring States period (late 1500s). Today, the Awata family of Sakamoto carries on the ancient traditions of the guild. Awata Junji is the 14th in a long line of stone layers in this family.
Awata says, "When building a wall, you have to listen to the stones--they know where they want to go. That's what master craftsmen in the Ano-shu Guild have always said. If we do our job properly and follow this advice, our walls will never fall, not even in a flood or earthquake." Stone walls laid by guild members withstood even the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, which caused horrendous damage to other structures.
"People live for a number of decades, but a good stone wall should be able to stand century after century. So obviously we can't do a slapdash job."
Awata has a full schedule, repairing stone walls all over Japan.
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