ヂd染めエアrテェrん—f路尾rポウンヂンg手ぇオテェrだy。oops still in Hiragana.

Did some earthern floor pounding the other day.  There is a name for it: たたき or tataki and I think it’s an onomatopoeic word.  Traditionally the floors of the entrance and possibly the kitchen were compacted earth/clay/mud.  It’s a beautiful, perfect floor covering for a workspace: cheap, hardwaring, easy to fix and a lot of fun to make.  The basic ingredients are dry clay soil, slaked lime and seawater.  These get mixed up and spread directly on the bare floor (it’s possible to cover debris without cleaning it first).  Next, this powdery mix is compacted until it is very hard and then another layer of mix is spread on top and flattened.  This process is repeated until the earth is at the desired height/look/feel.  Using basic natural ingredients and simple techniques makes the floor feel humble and sincere.  Actually, I can’t wait to do this to our house..

We had to make our own tools for pounding.  We weren’t very confident using power tools but somehow it all worked out and no-one lost a finger.

Hiroshi made a lovely tool from a chunk of cherry.  It worked well and was great exercise!

Always another layer to compress…  It’s hard work.

Almost done.  Just needs one more layer and a final super-smoothing.

The finished floor has those wonderful human marks and is as hard as concrete.  My arms are aching now.