The house on an oak sideboard beside a stack of books and a stoneware mug, its tiled roof on and the lantern by the front step.

Japanese Joinery House

A 1:24 Japanese house of 147 pieces, held together by its joints alone: no nails, no glue, no screws.

It starts on the ground

Four sills lap over each other at the corners, and two floor beams drop into dovetail sockets that flare at 15°. Nothing else holds them, and nothing else is needed.

Posts that only fit one way

8 posts stand on keyed stubs. The wrong post, or the right one turned around, will not seat, so the house can only go up as it was drawn. The veranda runs along the front.

Wedges lock the frame square

6 through-ties run through the posts, and a small wedge is tapped home at each crossing, 16 in all. Then the walls slide in between the posts.

Raising the ridge

Beams, struts and the ridge beam go up, and two pegs click home to hold it. Under the ridge sits the munafuda, the plate carpenters sign when a house is raised.

Rooms, then roof

The shoji drop into their tracks, 6 tatami go down so that no four corners meet, and the two tiled roof halves come down last, with the ridge tiles on top.

Lift the roof to look inside

The roof lifts off in one piece and sets down beside the house. Slide the front shoji across and the rooms are open: tatami, the hanging scroll, the vase.

147 pieces, 74 kinds, six jobs

Every piece is held by the one that comes after it. The frame locks with laps, dovetails, wedges and pegs; the walls and doors slide into it; the roof sits on top and comes off again.

  • The frame on its own: sills, posts, through-ties and beams.50

    Frame

    Sills, posts, through-ties, wedges, beams, struts and the pegged ridge.

  • The wall panels: white plaster above, dark boarding below, the round window.23

    Walls

    White plaster panels, dark lower boarding, the gables and the round window.

  • The veranda: its posts, foundation stones and deck boards.17

    Veranda

    The engawa along the front, on its own posts and foundation stones.

  • Shoji panels, tatami and the hanging scroll.21

    Rooms

    Shoji and their tracks, tatami, the scroll, the vase and the ridge plate.

  • One roof half with its rows of grey tiles and the ridge tiles.26

    Roof

    Two roof halves with their tile rows, ridge tiles and end tiles.

  • The base board with stepping stones, a stone lantern and a small pine.10

    Garden

    The base, stepping stones, a stone lantern and a cloud-pruned pine.

Up close

9.3 × 9.6 × 7.3 in and 2.1 lb: sized for a shelf, a sideboard or the corner of a desk, for anyone who likes to see how a thing is made.

Low along the veranda: deck boards on stone footings, the pine and the stepping stones in front.
I like it best from down here, along the veranda, with the pine in front.
The gable end: the ridge tile with its round crest and the tiled roof sweeping down.
The tiles have real rows and a crest at each end of the ridge.
The front of the house from the right, lantern in the foreground and the step up to the veranda.
The lantern and the step stone make it feel lived in.
From above with the roof off: yellow tatami, the shoji and the frame of beams over the rooms.
With the roof off you look straight down onto the tatami.
The house on a light wood desk beside a keyboard and a white coffee mug.
It sits next to my keyboard and takes about as much room as a mug and a notebook.

Five joints, no glue

These are the joints a temple carpenter would cut, shrunk to 1:24. Pick one to see it pulled apart.

The sills cross at each corner with half their depth cut away, so the two lie flush and cannot slide.

Half lap: two sills crossing at a corner, a post lifted above.
The house with its roof lifted off and set down beside it, the frame and rooms open.
With the roof set aside I can see how every beam sits on the next.

147 pieces in the box

50
frame pieces, wedges and pegs
23
wall panels and gables
17
veranda pieces and stones
21
shoji, tatami and fittings
26
roof halves and tiles
10
base, lantern and pine
Size
9.3 × 9.6 × 7.3 in
Weight
2.1 lb
Scale
1:24
Pieces
147, of 74 different kinds
Joints
Half laps, dovetails, keyed stubs, wedges and pegs
Fasteners
None: no nails, glue or screws
Doors
4 shoji in two tracks; the front ones slide
Roof
Lifts off to show the rooms
The house from the back right, roof on, the dark lower boarding between the posts.

Good to know

Does it need glue or nails?

No. Every joint is a half lap, dovetail, keyed stub, wedge or peg, and the house holds together by fit alone.

Does the roof come off?

Yes. It lifts off and sets down beside the house, so you can see the tatami, the scroll and the vase inside, then it drops back on.

Do the doors open?

The 4 shoji run in two tracks along the front, so the outer ones slide across the inner ones, as they do in a real house.

How big is it?

9.3 × 9.6 × 7.3 in and 2.1 lb, at 1:24 scale. It fits on a shelf, a sideboard or a desk.

What is the little plate under the ridge?

That is the munafuda. In Japan the carpenters who raise a house sign a plate like it and leave it under the ridge. This one has a blank face, so you can write your own names on it.