Update: A stone wall & a new home

The final stone

In Puzzled in stone, posted in May 2012, I wrote about progress in building a stone wall in the grounds of Koumori-tei, Walk Japan's main office in Japan. It was finished, finally, over the recent new year; fully one year later than my original optimistic thoughts of completion by the end of 2012. Starting in June 2011, the whole edifice has taken two and a half years of intermittent toil between my regular job at Walk Japan; the heat and humidity of the summer months when it is too enervating to attempt much labour; rainy days when it impossible to see how well or not the stones are placed together; and, also, those times when I just could not face another day of the seemingly endless task of adding yet another stone.

The wall retains a grassy bank...

and provides a more comfortable access route to Koumori-tei.

This summer the grass will return to the bare earth...

and the wall will soon look like it has been here for many years. 

I estimate about 100,000 stones, all placed by hand, were used in construction. 99% of these are smaller ones hidden behind the front stones and are vital in maintaining the integrity of the structure. With a bit of luck the whole wall will remain standing for over 100 years and now finished my thoughts turn to other projects.....

A new house

In Decay and renewal, posted one year ago, I highlighted the mouldering state of a great swathe of the Japanese housing stock and how this is impacting rural communities. Contrary to the situation I wrote about then, however, we have been lucky enough to purchase an empty and spacious property in the village. This is the second one to come into our hands, the first being the old farmhouse in the same neighbourhood we have renovated for use as our office.

The house is largely hidden by a verdant garden.

A single-storey dwelling that is surprisingly large inside.

The latest building, which is in a grimy but good structural condition, came at a price so cheap that it belies the image of Japan as one of the most expensive countries in the world. Now, though, we have to spend several times that amount to make it a home for our growing family and to accommodate visitors. Our priority is to turn it into a space that not only appeals to us but will also intrigue others who love the idea of the countryside but do not want to give up their urban comforts. The premise being that through this and the other things happening with our Community Project we want as many people to see, understand and, hopefully, act on the great potential of Kunisaki and other struggling rural areas of Japan.

Properties in rural Japan are generally notorious for being fairly basic and draftily cold in winter. Currently, we are poring over books and magazines for ideas and inspiration ahead of preliminary building work due to commence in April. From time-to-time we will provide updates on progress.

P.S. Since we bought this property another has also been offered to us. Any takers?