In Japan, storm shutters are a standard feature on homes. With typhoons an annual occurrence, it’s wise to protect the windows – especially the big expanses of glass in patio doors.
Most people buy aluminum shutters along with their windows and doors. But in our case, that mass market option wasn’t even considered. From the early design phase, Teramoto-san and Sasaki-san defined ours in classic wood.
Sasaki-san engineered and constructed the tobukuro (戸袋 is literally “door bag” but really a big box) from thick slabs of high-quality cedar, faced with the same cladding as the house. The top of the box is, by my request, strong enough for a cat (or two) to sit on.
He hand-carved a pretty shape for the gap where I will reach into the box for the shutter doors. He told me that it’s been a while since he’s built a tobukuro but that he enjoyed doing it again after so many years.
A separate craftsman will build the panels that fit into the box and slide across the windows. We met with him last week to discuss not only the shutters, but also the sliding doors inside the house. More on that soon.
