Post and Beam

      We've been expecting a bit of delay in construction due to unavailable materials that normally ship from northern Japan.  We've been notified that our windows and flooring wouldn't start shipping until mid-April, postponing work by about 2 weeks. 

      Last week, we also had a meeting with our loan officer at SMBC to get our ducks in a row for the home loan.  We were asked to gather the usual: official hanko, seal registration certificate, ward registration certificate, medical insurance certificate and of course, our "Construction Contract" with the mandatory "Inshizei" of 15,000 yen we had to get from the post Office.  This is a Stamp Tax levied by the National Government which is placed on the formal housing loan documents and which varies based upon loan amounts.

      We went over to our property today, to see how things were going.  Here's our inspector checking out the beams from all angles.

      So it seems that at least some of the wood has been delivered and the structure of the house is starting as planned.

      We can now see close up the beams and how these fit together according to Conventional Building Method or Zairai Kouhou (在来工法).  This method is known as the Pre-cut system - プレカットシステム or traditional Japanese Post-and-Beam construction.
 

Here's a breakdown of the types of joints in the P&B method:

      According to a very reassuring article I just came across, "Post and beam construction guarantees structural integrity and its stability against earthquakes, hurricanes, heavy snowfall, etc. is extraordinary"  Let's seriously hope so!