According to a study conducted by the Institute for the Science of Labor in 1943，a professional carpenter uses 179 different tools on average. Among them are two types of axes and adzes belonging to two separate categories. This constitutes the standard set of axes and adzes used in modern carpentry. And two principal types of axes and adzes in two separate categories were used by woodcutters to cut and hew lumber. The principal axes and adzes used to construct buildings made of wood (building construction in the broad sense) in modern times are the four types of axes and adzes in three separate categories used by carpenters and woodcutters. What types of axes and adzes were used from the 17th to the 19th centuries? My research into various reference materials concerning architectural axes and adzes has yielded the following findings. (1) Axes and adzes used for construction in the wide sense from the 17th to the 19th centuries can be categorized as large axes with narrow blades (ax/ adze category A)，large and small axes with wide blades (ax/ adze category B)，and adzes (ax/ adze category C)， and four types in the three categories were the ones primarily used. (2) The principal names used for axes and adzes were “yoki” for category A，“ tatsuki” for category B， and “teono” for category C. (3) The dimensions (blade widths) of axes and adzes were 3 sun 8 bu (≒ 115㎜) for category A， 8 sun (≒242㎜) for category B， and 5 sun (≒152㎜) for cate gory C. (4) The basic structures of axes and adzes were the hole type (handle inserted in an eye of the blade) for categories A and B， and the socket type (handle inserted in a socket of the blade) for category C. (5) It is hypothesized that during the late 17th century and the early 18th century， the shape of the blade of category C changed.

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From 1991 to 1994，the author surveyed Chinese carpentry tools in Shanghai， Hangzhou， Kunming， Dali， Wutai Shan， and elsewhere. Based on the results of this survey and with reference to past survey results， written records， and pictorial documents， he organized the shapes of Chinese chisels and the way they were used. He also compared Japanese and Chinese chisels. 1) Words for chisel shaped tools include the chisel used to form holes， the “juan (鐫)” used to split logs， and the “chan (鏟)” and “zong (鍃)“ used to smooth wood. 2) Actual chisels he discovered icluded te knocking chisel used to form holes， and the planing chisel used for planing. He found no tool corresponding to the juan used to split logs. 3) The modern Japanese chisel is a tang type equipped with a metal cap， but in China， the part connecting the handle and the blade of a chisel is socket shaped in the case of a knocking chisel. The planing chisel has both a socket and a tang. 4) Pictorial documents also show an axe being used to hit a knocking type chisel; a fact that was confirmed at Wutai Shan. 5) Among chisels used for planing， he discovered one of a kind never seen in Japan; a chisel with its blade inclined at an angle. In Shanghai， he confirmed that carpenters pushed it to plane the surface of wood. 6) Blades were welded by forging. The is a fact already seen in Chinese literature (“Hokusaisho” and “Tenkokaibutsu”) .

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