Japanese Bus Shelter

[Woodbloke]

Not quite but it's a little garden building called a 'Koshikake' and they were originally built (so I believe) as waiting room for those lucky enough to partake in the Tea Ceremony (moi included). After much Pinterest pondering I came across this idea:





It's going to be much smaller than the one shown above and will incorporate an open front such as this one:



...where the decking reaches over the pond in order to view the fishes of a summer evening, accompanied by cold beer or glass of chardonnay.

This afternoon I've just started to set out the 'groundwork' as such:



The bamboo bar-b-q sticks show the location for the concrete pads made from proper 'old skool' 50mm thick concrete 'Council' slabs and the green posts within mark the four main uprights. The deck that will overhang the pond is made from stuff called opepe, which apparently has a life span of 80 years in seawater (or so I was told) The first of the Japanese style paving slabs can be seen in place and eventually there'll be a meandering path of them linking the upper terrarse and pond to the lower terrarse where can be seen the greenhouse and a black chair. Along said 'long and winding road' will be a collection of my favourite trees, which happen to be Japanese maples (proper ones, not the imitation Dutch cultivars)

Material will be Douglas Fir from East Bros nr Salisbury (cut to order with a 10 week lead time) and if you lot are expecting any fancy Japanese joinery you can think again :lol: The whole lot is going to held together by a confection of screws and bolts.

It doesn't have to be waterproof, there'll be sufficient gaps in the rear planking to let the wind through, but by far the most expensive part of the project will be the 'rain chain' from Japan that SWIMBO has promised me; think upwards of £300 :shock: :shock:

SWIMBO in her infinite wisdom may decide that it can be made bigger so currently it's a 'fluid situation' - Rob

 

[AndyP]

and if you lot are expecting any fancy Japanese joinery you can think again

Spoilsport.

 

[Mike G]

Well, what a coincidence. Part of this pile:



...is for making a "pavilion" next to our pond. Your's looks great, and I look forward to the progress on this. Mine will be done later this summer.

.....if you lot are expecting any fancy Japanese joinery you can think again.......

Joints, Rob. Make some joints!!! It really won't hurt. You might even enjoy it. :lol:

 

[AndyP]

Joints, Rob. Make some joints!!! It really won't hurt. You might even enjoy it. :lol:

EXACTLY.
If I can do this I dare to think what a man of your calibre could achieve.

 

[AJB Temple]

I like those pictures. It's a nice idea. I have something similar in mind as the entrance to our Japanese style garden, so I've copied those pictures.

If you are going to the expense and trouble, it would be a shame not to do some sort of homage to Japanese joints. At the very least you could do over-long through tenons and wedges, which would be simple to do and look very good.

We have toyed with the idea of chain copper downpipes as commonly used in traditional Japanese houses. You can get facsimiles in the UK, eg: https://www.windchimescorner.co.uk/prod ... e-ornament, or interwoven chains. If you re importing from Japan I would be really interested in your source for that.

 

[Woodbloke]

SWIMBO has arrived home from work and the whole build has been kicked into the long grass, simply 'cos there's not really enough room. However, we bought enough Japanese style slabs to link the upper terrarse to the lower terrarse, complete with severial Japanese maples of various sizes - Rob

 

[AJB Temple]

Not to worry - you can come and build mine

Shame though. I was already looking forward to it.

 

[Woodbloke]

Not to worry - you can come and build mine

Shame though. I was already looking forward to it.

It would have been an interesting build. I intended to assemble it on the patio at the top of the garden and then co-opt the help of a few stout neighbours to lift it into position onto the pre-prepared concrete slabs. The problem with the build would have been the roof in that it faces over the pond so there's no way (apart from a few scaffolding planks for the ladder) that I could have gained access.

Ref the 'rain chains'. We really like them and saw plenty, as you did, in Japan. Solid copper chains are available from the USA on Amazon for a 'reasonable' :eusa-whistle: amount, but the 'real deal' from Japan are eye wateringly expensive...I think SWIMBO found a set the other evening for about £400 or so inc import duties etc. Other than that, we've seen them in the price range from Japan of £600-800 :shock: - Rob

 

[Regex]

Would've been interesting to see your final build. How were you planning on making the white walls?

Your post reminded me about a book I have called "Zen Gardening", so I was curious to see what it had to say about Koshikake. Not a lot as it turns out, but it does talk a lot about tea gardens and ceremonies.