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Touring Japanese temples changed my mind about what quality carpentry really means.
Seeing joinery that's lasted centuries made me question our reliance on nails and glue.
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ivanl761mo agoTop Commenter
Whoa, actually a lot of those old joints used rice paste glue too, not just wood fitting.
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nina_hall1mo ago
Oh totally, seeing those massive wooden beams fit together like a puzzle with zero metal fasteners is mind blowing. I was in this one temple in Kyoto and you could still smell the ancient cedar, and every joint was so precise it looked grown together. It makes most new construction feel kind of slapped together and temporary in comparison.
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