More Tenmasens

My previous post, on the Japanese tenmasen workboat under construction by Douglas Brooks, failed to include any good photos of full-size boats, an omission which Ill correct here. Had I only dug a bit deeper on Mr. Brooks website, Id have found this lovely one, which he built with a Japanese builder in 2002:

Tenmasen built by Douglas Brooks and Mr. Kazuyoshi Fujiwara. Photo courtesy Mr. Brooks. (Click any image to enlarge)

As an apparently straightforward build, its perhaps not surprising that some other tenmasens have been built for cultural/historical purposes, including this one in 2009 for the marine research organization/aquarium Aquamarine Fukashima:

Tenmasen built for Aquamarine Fukashima.

The two tenmasens show some important differences. The former has a blunt and massive bow and no seats (perhaps more in keeping with the boats heritage as a cargo-carrier), while the latter has a fine and pointed bow and seats both amidship and in the stern. The "gate" that serves as a rowlock for the sculling oar is another interesting feature of the bottom photo.