[.ca] The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: The Secrets of a Craft (ISBN 4770019785)

Overview of Japanese Joinery in Carpentry and Architecture:
A high-level look at Japanese joinery in carpentry and temple architecture. Good photographs and diagrams. This book would have more meaning to a carpenter as it is not an instruction book to learning and implementing these techniques.

Fascinating book:
Did you know that wood from trees that were growing on the south-facing side of a mountain has got to be used in the southern-facing face of a Japanese temple, so that it experiences the same weather conditions as it used to and doesn't warp so much? Or that the curving grain of a wood can be used to support a load from above, so the curve neutralises the sagging? This and many other fascinating aspects of the highly refined art of Japanese carpentry are revealed in this book. Every page makes you marvel at its precision, sophistication and sheer ingenuity. Azby Brown writes with clarity and knows how to capture all the interesting details.

A basic book for japanese temple carpentry:
This book is an excellent begin to the study of the japanese temple carpentry, with a lot of tips of the architectural solutions used by the japanese. It shows some history of the japanese temples, but not so deep. Also it is not a how to book, as i said it is a begginers book full with photos of the temple carpenter's workshop and closes of some joints.