Julio Alonso is the founder of Estudio Hayabusa, the only traditional Japanese carpentry in Spain. He makes intricate sashimono pieces honoring time-tested manual tools and techniques from Japan.

Julio became interested in woodwork after moving to his first home in 2005. Dissatisfied with mass-produced furniture, he started learning to create custom pieces and soon discovered the beauty of traditional Japanese wood joinery, which allows to build furniture, houses, and even temples without any nails or screws. Sashimono is inherently linked to the Japanese way of thinking and reflects the values of simplicity, modesty, and appreciation of nature.

The Japanese wood joinery tradition stems from the philosophy of working with nature, and not against it. Japan has limited supply of natural resources like iron, yet a great variety of trees – to this day, about 70% of the country is covered in forests. Japan also has high humidity levels and is at constant risk of earthquakes and typhoons, which complicates the use of metal elements in structures. Instead of recurring to screws or nails, complex wood joints are carved using hand saws, planes, and chisels. Many of these tools are still tailor-made and mastering them takes nearly as long as creating them.

Every year, expert carpenters compete at Kezuroukai to test their skills with the Japanese hand plane, kanna. In 2018, Julio Alonso was the first Spanish ever to participate in this event, and he caught the attention of the Japanese TV. Julio was invited to spend some time studying under the master blacksmith and Living National Treasure Funahiro (舟弘) and sashimonoshi Mogami Yutaka, the head of the Edo Wood Joinery Association. The opportunity to hone his skills in Japan incited Julio to share this precious knowledge with other craftsmen across the globe. Besides running a blog and YouTube channel, Julio offers free-of-charge classes several times a year for anyone interested in learning traditional Japanese wood joinery. To learn more, please visit his website.