The first task was to prepare and fix the posts. As with the ryoanji-gaki, there are main posts (oyabashira) and slightly shorter intermediate posts (mabashira), for which I used round treated softwood stakes of 75mm and 60mm diameter, respectively, with a couple of coats of a dark oak woodstain applied.
The posts were sunk 400-450mm into the ground. By carefully digging narrow holes using a wrecking bar and removing loose soil by hand rather than a wider spade, the soil was not loosened any more than necessary and it was possible to fix the posts simply by infilling and tamping the soil rather than using concrete (especially as this is a very lightweight fence).
The photo shows some of the posts in position. The oyabashira are 1.1 metres high and approximately 3.6 metres apart, with mabashira 1 metre high at the midpoint. Notice that the mabashira is set back slightly from the centre line between the oyabashira to allow for the fitting of the dÅbuchi (see later).
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