The True Carpentry

I am Oto Seiler and I founded True Carpentry and Construction in 2012 but I have been working in timber construction for 10 years.

I have been lucky enough to lead an interesting professional path; after secondary and university education in the UK my apprenticeship was conducted with Kumakura construction, Kyoto - my family home, where I spent four years learning the arts of traditional and modern Japanese constructional carpentry. Kumakura is a very well respected company frequently invited to work on important national projects or sites of historical interest in Kyoto; Japan's former capital city hosts a significant number of historical buildings.

Japanese carpentry relies on highly accurate construction, in an earthquake-prone country architecture has evolved to create very robust, solid constructions whilst respecting the Japanese aesthetic of simplicity and clean lines. The traditional buildings are constructed of wood - predominantly Japanese cedar and Japanese Cypress (hinoki).