pretty cool

This was fascinating

Hey Doug, great program. Magic. One small note regarding the good point raised about not treating the wood. As you know, our sabani in Hayama is treated every year with shark oil. The oil is made simply by... first catch a shark, extract the liver, boil it and then apply to the outer hull with a brush while holding your nose with the other hand as it stinks to high heaven. I have, truly, seen people faint from the odour. I have used many and various treatments on my wooden boats through the years, nothing, either ancient or modern, performs better than this shark oil. Boats treated in this way regularly, frequently last over 100 years. I have never seen one drop of water enter through the seams of our sabani, made by Shimojo-san, the Master in your video, who incidentally made that sabani with you using only one arm, the other having been incapacitated, in my 12 years of sailing and racing it. Keep up the good work! Greetings from France. Bill

This is fantastic- I enjoyed the whole 2 hours of insights! I will be continuing the conversation with Douglas Brooks today on my talkshow-podcast Seek Sustainable Japan - join us!

Hahaha this guy licked 963 rusty nails all in the name of learning a traditional craft. Respect.

Two hours of this fella divulging all his teachers secrets. They will be spinning in their graves 😂

Hello again Doug and viewers. Another comment regarding the question of the availability of large cedars for boatbuilding. You correctly state that the Japanese have for many centuries carefully managed their supply. As you know, sabani boats were originally dugouts made from one trunk. However, the current design of a base and two planks was initiated following an edict by the local Daimyo (Lord) forbidding the felling of very large diameter cedars in the Okinawan islands. I forget the year but I have seen a copy of the edict. A very interesting method of conserving cedar in Japan, which amazingly allows harvesting of timber without cutting down trees, called "daisugi" (big wood) is described here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jcmcZ6xmqqyRlKM.html ...and for an excellent overview of the history of Japan's forests and their destruction and conservation read here: www.nippon.com/en/features/c03912/ Only Finland and Sweden have more forests per landmass than Japan. Well... it is fun learning new things and sharing information is it not ?