A Study on Mast Installation Procedure of Japanese Wooden Vessel of Edo Era, Bezaisen

Abstract

Bezaisen, a Japanese typical wooden vessel of Edo era, is characterized by its single large sail supported by one set of huge mast. On the installation procedure of the mast, some references are available such as the record prepared by Armand Paris who was a lieutenant of French navy visiting Japan in early Meiji era. But those did not cover the procedure in detail to get overall picture. In this paper, the procedure is studied based on some calculations considering shapes, sizes, weights and center of gravities of the sail and mast on the reconstructed Bezaisen “Naniwa-maru" as well as its construction records.