Tag Archives: Honryou (ホンリョウ)

Wasen Modeler Update for Summer 2025

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I’ve been pretty idle in terms of modeling Japanese watercraft or updating this site, some might even say I’ve been remiss. But, I was recently contacted by my old mentor Douglas Brooks to build a model of the Shinanogawa boat that has been the subject of his full-size Japanese boatbuilding workshops. So, I’ve been revisiting my wasen modeling supplies, notes, tools and all. I even started thinking again about the wasen model displays I used to set up at the bank in the Japan Center Mall in San Francisco. Last time I displayed there was nearly 7 years ago. I used to display two or three times a year there until Covid put an end to that.

My wasen model display at Union Bank in the Japan Center Mall, San Francisco, in November of 2019

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Building a Traditional Japanese Boat at the University of Illinois

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Recently Douglas Brooks completed the teaching of a Japanese boatbuilding apprenticeship class at Japan House. 18 students participated in the week long class which culminated in the construction and launching of a Honryousen, a long, narrow riverboat found in Niigata prefecture, Japan.

Read more about it in this article posted on the Illinois News Bureau website here: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/789104783#image-2

Douglas Brooks Building Honryousen

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American Boatbuilder Douglas Brooks has been studying traditional Japanese boatbuilding techniques from master Japanese craftsmen for more than 25 years. He recently completed building a boat in Niigata prefecture under the guidance of Mr. Nakaichi Nakagawa. The boat is a simple river boat called a Honryousen.

Joining him in Japan is Nina Noah, Director of Student Affairs and Outreach at the Apprenticeshop, a non-profit organization located in Rockland, ME, dedicated “to inspiring personal growth through craftsmanship, community, and traditions of the sea.” She is also working on the boats and helping to document the work being done.

The following video was put together interviewing Mr. Nakagawa and documenting the work on this lovely boat.