Biography
Professor Douglas Woodruff first came to Japan in 1966 with his family and traveled throughout the country. He returned to Japan in 1972 to spend his junior year in college at Doshisha University, and after completing his BA at Oberlin, he moved to Kyoto, where he has lived ever since. Douglas apprenticed as a carpenter at Hasegawa Kobo from 1976-78, established an independent workshop in northern Kyoto Prefecture in 1979, and at the same time began a partnership with the architectural firm Atelier Ryo that continues to this day. From that same year, he has undertaken woodworking commissions from private patrons in prefectures across Japan and in France, Hawaii, and Canada to disassemble, relocate, reassemble, and renovate country farmhouses (minka).
Since 2000, Professor Woodruff has also been involved in a number of Kyo-machiya, kura, and teahouse reconstruction and renovation projects, both in Japan and abroad. He regularly exhibits samples of his carpentry and woodworking pieces in Kyoto, and his work has been featured in numerous magazines (including Bungei Shunju, Kateigaho, Jutaku Kenchiku, Bessatsu Taiyo, Tezukuri Mokko Jiten) and books (including Japan Country Living and The Japanese House, both published by Tuttle Press).
