In-depth look at the twilight years, spent training apprentices, of temple builder Nishioka Tsunekazu, who was called the "devil" as he devoted his life to temple architecture. His insistence on the gargantuan timescale of linking life to the next millennium emerges from people who knew him. Remarkable as well for showing the unknown backstage of temple architecture. Nishioka, known as "the last temple carpenter," handled the major Showa-era repairs of Horyuji temple, and in 1990 was at the scene of the reconstruction work for Yakushi temple.
Cinematography
Patient observation of wood grain and weathered hands
Sound
The symphony of chisels, mallets, and temple silence
Director
Yûji Yamazaki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Horyuji temple, which Nishioka restored, contains some of the world's oldest surviving wooden structures—built in 607 AD.
The 'devil' nickname (oni) in Japanese craft tradition signals uncompromising mastery, not malice—think Gordon Ramsay but with chisels and 1,400 years of spiritual weight behind every cut.
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