Wasen Mokei by Clare Hess

打瀬船 Utasebune

Early Meiji period side-trawing fishing boat. 1/72 scale scratch build based on drawings recorded in 1868 by French Navy Lieutenant Armand Paris, and published in Souvenirs de Marine Conserves.

利根川高瀬舟 Tonegawa Takasebune

Large Tone river cargo boat used during the Edo period.

1/72 scratch build based on a drawing published in the book Tonegawa Takasebune by Koji Watanabe.

ホンリョウ Honryou

Small Niigata riverboat used for fishing and hauling gravel.

1/10 scale scratch build based on one built by Douglas Brooks and Nina Noah under the guidance of Japanese boatbuilder Mr. Nakaichi Nakagawa.

氷見てんま Himi Tenma

Small workboat from western Toyama prefecture, used on in harbors and coastal waters for fishing and general purpose work.

1/10 scale scratch built model based on one built by Douglas Brooks and Nina Noah under the guidance of Japanese boatbuilder Mr. Mitsuaki Bansho.

伝間造茶船 Tenma-Zukuri Chabune

A reconstruction of an Edo period workboat used to carry caro and passengers on the rivers and canals of old Edo.

1/20 scale scratch built model based on reconstruction work and information from the Funakagami.

帆図川下り舟 Hozugawa Kudaribune

Downriver boat used by the Hozugawa Kudari company that has been taking passengers on the scenic ride down the Hozu rider for more than 200 years. The company is still in operation using fiberglass (GRP) replicas of the original boats. The last wooden boat was recently broken up.

1/40 scale scratch built model based on drawings of a wooden kudari boat provided by Douglas Brooks.

鎌倉時代の海舟 Kamakura-period Umibune

A junkōzōsen or semi-structured hull type trade boat from the Kamakura period capable of traveling on rivers and the protected waters of the Inland Sea.

1/50 scale scratch built model based on drawings from the Illustrated History of Japanese Boats by Kenji Ishii.

帆図川アユブネ Hozugawa Ayubune

A small one or two person fishing boat used on the Hozu river. Named for the small popular sweetfish.

1/10 scale scratch built model based on measurements recorded by Douglas Brooks.

タズル Tazuru

Also known as a Tabune or Zutta Tenma, this is a small rice field boat from Toyama prefecture. These were work boats used to aid in working the flooded rice paddies. This one is large enough to carry a person, but they were often small enough to push along while working in the fields.

1/10 scale scratch built model based on one built by Douglas Brooks at the Himi City Museum in Toyama prefecture.

浦安ベカ舟 Urayasu Bekabune

This is a seaweed gathering boat that operated out of Urayasu on Tokyo Bay. This particular size was also used for collecting shellfish as well as working in the carefully placed seaweed nets that Tokyo Bay was once very well known for.

1/10 scale scratch built model based on one built by Douglas Brooks during his apprenticeship with Japanese boatbuilder Mr. Nobuji Udagawa in Urayasu city.

義父田舟 Gifu Tabune

A small farm boat from Gifu prefecture, ideally suited for navigating the connecting cannals between flooded rice fields, and to carry tools, nightsoil, and so on.

1/20 scale scratch built model based on a drawing obtained by Douglas Brooks.

Kit Built Models

土佐和船 Tosa Wasen

A one or two person fishing boat from Tosa, Kōchi prefecture, Shikoku.

1/10 scale kit from Thermal Studio.

八丁櫓 Hacchoro

Edo period 8-oared fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka prefecture. Used in pole and line catching of bonito and other large fish. It is said that during the Tokugawa period, non-military boats were restricted to a maximum of 7 oars to limit their military capacity. The retiring Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu had many of these boats commissioned to escort his own ship, but they had a difficult time keeping up. So, they were granted special permission to use an additional oar, hence the name Hacchoro, which means 8 oars.

1/24 scale kit from Woody Joe.