OLD JAPANESE HOUSE, YOSHINO

Not a few people regret the gradual disappearance of kominka , traditional Japanese houses. However, it’s very costly to maintain them and difficult to get public financial support. Even registered cultural properties , after completing complex procedures, the owners can get a pittance for an inspection (not available for renovation) and tax reduction.  Most owners/users leverage funding programs for Akiya , vacant houses. Increasing abandoned houses is pressing challenges in Japan. The Vacant Houses Special Measures Act entered into force in 2015, which stipulates the roles of the central, regional (prefectural), and local (municipal) governments. The central government and prefectures are to formulate high-level action plans and to provide information and financial support for municipalities, while municipalities tackle with the issues on the front line by implementing inspection, constructing Akiya database, and taking practical measures for finding new owners and users. Fo...

The renovation of the house was done and it’s time to think about concrete plans on how to use them. I live and work in Tokyo and the houses are located in a less-populated village (10 hours and 300USD for a return trip from Tokyo), I have to find new users outside from the village. Then things are coming up: how to get along with the local community. I can invite someone, but nobody will visit the houses on a regular basis, if the ambience around isn’t good. In the first place, I myself am an outsider, though my mum grew up in the village. At the offset, I organized: 1) a small event for introducing the tea house last September; and 2) a workshop to collect the memory of the village last December. More precisely, I proposed but practically Mr. Matsuda, an expert of the local authority organized them. Such ambiguity in the organization is a result of the fact that, even though local authorities value the spontaneous actions by private figures, most residents put their trust in the pu...

The renovation of the tea house and the main house was launched at the beginning of June and finished on August 21. The construction company called Rinwa Kensetsu gave me some batches of pictures as progress reports. I posted them on tea house , now here are the pictures on the main house. For the cost estimates, please see the previous post . Unlike the tea house, the renovation of the main house was very simple: mainly to renew the floors. Wooden floorboards rapidly deteriorate in the warm and humid climate, particularly when the house is vacant and the air inside is stagnant. First, let me explain the structure of Japanese traditional houses. Under floor boards, the foundation of buildings usually consists as shown in the picture below. They are basically wooden materials except stone bases. For reference, here are the pictures before the renovation. Before renovation REMOVING THE FLOORBOARDS The company tore off the floorboards, sleepers and floor joists, if they are rotten. Such...

The renovation of the tea house and the main house was launched at the beginning of June and finished on August 21. The construction company called Rinwa Kensetsu gave me some batches of pictures as progress reports. I’m going to post them of how the tea house was restored. For the cost estimates, please see the previous post . SCAFFOLDINGS AND SUBSTRUCTION REINFORCEMENT The scaffoldings were run up at the end of June. As the tea house stands on the slope of a mountain, scaffolds are necessary for the repair of the roof and the foundation of the house. The wooden foundation had been half-rotten, and so inclined that we weren’t able to open doors smoothly (Doors can open smoothly only when the sash bars keep quadrangle). The company staff fixed the problem. EXTERNAL WALLS The residence zone consisting of two rooms, kitchen, toilet was added about 70 years ago, and my mom lived there about 50 years ago. However, it wasn’t quality work and warped/inclined much faster than the 120-year-o...