Jul 11, 2021 Ralph Adams Cram’s focus on traditional architecture, with design principles still relevant today, explains why his book “Impressions of Japanese Architecture,” first published in 1905, has stood the test of time. Impressions of Japanese Architecture, by Ralph Adams Cram 160 pages TUTTLE PUBLISHING So how did Cram’s text become a classic? It helps being the first. Although there was interest in the Japanese arts at the time, Cram was the first Westerner to produce a comprehensive title in English on the country’s traditional wooden architecture. An astute writer and also a well-known architect in his own right, Cram’s work is a tribute to Japan’s master carpenters, capable of turning their hands as easily to the construction of modest private residences and farmhouses as magisterial religious structures. As the materials required to create both vernacular and sacred buildings, such as quality wood, tile and copper, have become more expensive over time, Cram’s record of the designs he studied has become increasingly valuable as well.