Sanjugokubune (三十石舟) Information Discovery

My apologies for not posting more information and updating my wasen modeling site very much lately. There are other things I’ve been trying to get done, and between this pandemic and the heaviness of having my mom in a nursing facility, I’m definitely not at my best. I did finally have a chance to play some traditional Japanese music with my music group at a couple events in Santa Rosa and San Francisco these past few weeks, but it’s not really enough.

It wasn’t until I set aside some things I’ve been trying to get done, and started paying attention to my wasen modeling, that things started feel so much better. So, I guess I’m going to have to make more time for wasen models, for mental health reasons, if nothing else!

The Sanjugokubune (三十石舟)

The most recent wasen topic that’s been on my mind is a type of riverboat transportation called the Sanjugokubune. These were large river boats that operated between Osaka and Kyoto during the Edo period. They are very famous for providing regular, scheduled, daily service for both cargo and passengers. I read somewhere that hundreds of these boats operated on this regular route every day.

In a recent post, I provided a link to a Youtube clip of a Sanjugokubune related story. More on that here.

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Looking for Yodogawa river craft detail

I haven’t tried this yet with this blog. Normally, I just post what’s new and what I’m working on, etc. But, this time I’m going to try asking for help…

Some Yodogawa 淀川 river boats and some sea boats in the Osaka area show a kind of stern structure that is different from other boat types, but I can’t quite make out the details from the few drawings and photos I’ve seen.

In another case, there is a model of a river gozabune from the Tokyo Museum of Maritime Science. I have some photos of it, but again, nothing that shows the stern in detail. Again, this is a boat from the Yodo river.

This is a beautiful model for which I have a nice drawing, but there is no scale and again I don’t really understand the construction of the stern.

Now, I could take a guess based on the drawings I have, but this is a very well known and often viewed model, so I’m hoping someone out there has some better closeup photos of it. Also, I need the exact length of model or of something specific on the model, as well as the scale, to be able to determine correct measurements.

There might be other models besides this specific one that shows stern features in detail, if you have any info, please contact me here through the comments section. Thank you!