Leverage local knowledge to supercharge your Japan travels, make big akiya purchases, or even plan a move to the land of the rising sun. Learn about restoring abandoned properties in rural Japan and gain lessons from paperback reads and formidable builders who set the example 🇯🇵 https://akiyaproject.substack.com/
In an episode last summer, I covered my first autobiography about the story and works of Yoshihiro Takishita. Looking back at my catalog of podcasts, I found this to be one of the most insightful and enjoyable to listen to.
For a few months now, I’ve been dwelling in the realm of ideas — about beauty, tradition, modernism — and have been itching to bring them down to a more practical, human level. There’s no better place to start than to re-explore the genre of biography. The practitioners of architecture will no doubt have much to offer as I work on my Japanese farmhouse restoration.
Today, Kengo Kuma will give us a tour of his finished works throughout Tokyo, which range from epic sports venues to regal museums to quaint confectionary shops. As arguably the greatest wood architect of his generation, he advocates for an architecture that respects and takes into account its surroundings — as opposed to obtrusive buildings that selfishly obscure their neighbors.
Since my project is mostly a historic building restoration, the house should take its humble place within the neighborhood without much difficulty. However, I think Kuma can still offer inspiration in another area. Collapsed roofs and rotten columns will need full replacement, and there will be plenty of room to use new wood material in a creative (Kuma-influenced) way to bridge the old and the new.
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Books Mentioned In This Episode:
When you purchase a book (or anything on Amazon) with the links below, you support me and the podcast at no extra cost to you:
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#54 How Architecture Lost Its Magic and How to Get It Back
Sunday, September 1, 2024 • Duration 01:21:11
With a month-long trip back to California, I took time off from the project and enjoyed reading The Old Way of Seeing by Jonathan Hale. I first heard about the book from Brent Hull, a master craftsman who wrote an article titled “Books Every Builder Should Own” for the wonderful magazine Fine Homebuilding.
In a democracy, equality is among society’s highest ideals. One drawback, Hale argues, is that we tend toward mediocrity. As the Japanese saying goes, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Hale pushes back against this, pointing out that our built world has become increasingly ugly. Despite saying the obvious, our society remains uncomfortable with such harsh judgment. It prefers to maintain the average.
In this book, Hale illustrates this view, contrarian to our modern times. He makes the case that the old way of seeing produced beauty, and that we have lost that ability. He dives into what made the old way of seeing so powerful, namely that the ancients were more in touch with human intuition, natural patterns, and the ethic of play. He provides a history of when and how we lost the old way of seeing. He discusses how the vision of the modernists and the post-modernists fell short. And he concludes with a hope for the future.
He presents Frank Lloyd Wright as the greatest architect of our modern times. He understood the importance of pattern and form, yet he knew how to innovate. He was not tied down by historical precedent, yet he knew how to play with and off of old buildings. Most of all, he understood his culture and designed homes that epitomized American democratic life.
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did! I am back in Japan now and preparing for the most grueling stage of the project: retrofitting the foundation. I’ll update you more on that next time. In the interim, have a look at our new YouTube channel to see our successful implementation of a French Drain. Thanks again.
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#45 Create Streets: Building Better with Nicholas Boys Smith
Monday, November 27, 2023 • Duration 01:23:05
Nicholas Boys Smith is the founder of Create Streets, a social enterprise based in London that works with neighborhoods, communities, landowners, councils, and developers across the United Kingdom. Its mission is to help create and manage beautiful places, defined by gentle density, stewardship of nature, and public well-being. Boys Smith is also the author of many books, including No Free Parking, a history of London’s streets, out now in paperback.
It was a pleasure to speak with him, in no small part, because of his work as the co-chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and co-author of the 2020 report that advised the UK government on how to increase the use of high-quality design for newly built homes and how to bring beauty forward in neighborhoods. This report, also co-authored by Sir Roger Scruton, deeply influenced my graduate thesis. It has also inspired me to methodically address the Japanese context, no doubt a complex task to which I hope to contribute in at least a small meaningful way.
In our discussion, we talk about the origins of modern and post-modern architecture and how to re-introduce beauty into policy debates about city planning. We learn about how Create Streets began and what projects it is engaged in today to achieve its mission. We discuss the importance of stewardship of nature, giving voice to local residents, and how beauty satisfies our rational inclinations. Please enjoy!
Please consider subscribing to the Local Japan Substack as a free or paid member starting at just $5 a month! Your contributions help me with production costs and the time required to record and edit podcasts and organize interviews. For this, I thank you always.
Local Japan Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
#44 The Genius of Japanese Carpentry
Friday, October 27, 2023 • Duration 52:16
Born in the United States, Azby Brown is an architect and accomplished author of Japanese design and architecture who embarked on a transformative journey to Japan. He recalls his story in today’s book, The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: Secrets of an Ancient Craft.
In this episode, I go through his writings about a traditional pagoda construction at Yakushiji Temple in Nara, which took place throughout the 1980s. We learn about the guidance Azby received under master carpenter Tsunekazu Nishioka during that time, as well as the ancient knowledge, wisdom, and way of life that Nishioka practiced. The book also serves as a practical guide for learning the step-by-step process of assembling temple buildings using traditional Japanese methods.
I especially enjoyed the book because it offers a rare and personal window into the life of a community of Japanese carpenters. The book also evoked a sense of somber reflection in me, as it conveyed the gradual disappearance of the invaluable craftsmanship embodied by Nishioka and his team.
If you’d like to dive deeper into Azby Brown’s work, have a look at some of his most popular books below:
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Links to Resources:
* Get by Azby Brown
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#43 How to Find Value in Real Estate and Companies in Japan
Monday, September 25, 2023 • Duration 01:07:47
Today, I sit down with Rei Saito, the author of the Konichi Value newsletter. On Substack, Rei publishes insights into Japanese companies, real estate, and market trends with the goal of finding untapped value. With fluency in Japanese and English (and Swedish!), Rei has the added edge of being able to research Japanese news, reports, and sources. He brings this to you so that you may better understand the potential value that lies uncovered in the rising Japanese environment.
We discuss Warren Buffet’s recent acquisition of several Japanese conglomerates, Japan’s low-interest rate environment, unique drivers of Japanese real estate, cultural and behavioral changes, migration trends, and legal and tax obligations you need to know before you buy real estate in Japan.
The Genius of Warren Buffet’s Trade of Japanese Securities
For added context and analysis, I’ll quote investor and co-host of the All-In Podcast Chamath Palihapitiya about the Buffet trade, because I think it’s fascinating:
I was really curious about Buffett’s ownership of the Japanese trading companies and wanted to understand why he did it?
As it turns out, the trade is really brilliant.
He found a group of companies that had very low volatility, grew earnings predictably, had a good dividend yield and, in most cases, were buying back their stock.
But it’s what he does next which is so awesome:
As far as I can tell, he issues Japanese debt at very low rates, uses the proceeds to buy the stocks and then uses the dividends he then gets from owning these stocks (which are greater than the interest rates he’s paying to borrow in the first place) to pay the coupon!
What’s left over is a near-risk less bet where he’s borrowed trillions of Japanese Yen for free to buy billions of dollars of companies growing earnings in the mid teens.
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#42 Why All Japanese Public Schools Look the Same
Thursday, August 31, 2023 • Duration 14:24
Today, I revisit a story that I wrote back in 2019 when I was still an English teacher in Kyoto. Disgruntled by the ugly school buildings that defined my day-to-day work life, I wanted to get to the bottom of the question: Why do all Japanese public schools look the same?
I give a little backstory and read the script, which you can also follow along in full below (To see the photos, subscribe to the Local Japan email:
The click-clack of wooden sandals rings through the bamboo grove as an elder Buddhist monk leads me to the remains of a Meiji Era elementary school. The school building has been transported to this Buddhist temple from its original location three kilometers away.
“We now use the old lecture hall as a place of meditation,” the monk says. He turns to me, “Not many people know of this place.”
“I did some research,” I reply. “I heard that Chikkan Elementary is one of the only Meiji Era schools that still stands in Kyoto today.”
The clay-tiled roof and the wood craftsmanship come into view. Chikkan Elementary’s school emblem — 竹間 — flourishes the upper ridge of the structure. When I slide my hand across the wooden gateway, I think of the many Meiji Era (1868–1912) children who once walked beneath it.
As an English teacher who has been working in Kyoto for three years, I see students throughout the city commute to gray, modern buildings and study in concrete classrooms. During the course of my time in Kyoto, I have also visited the 959-year-old Ujigami Shrine and I have enjoyed the ancient music of Gion Festival. “Where — in this land of such deep history — did the schools of Kyoto go?” I think to myself.
“Chikkan Elementary was almost destroyed, but the monks had the building transferred here in 1929,” says the old man.
This temple in Kyoto, known as Shinnyo-do, is a private entity that managed to purchase and preserve such priceless works of historic architecture. Classic Japanese-tiled lecture halls and wooden entry gates once defined Japan’s schools. Nearly all of this workmanship has since disappeared, at the hands of a nationwide wave of demolishment during the Showa period (1926–1989).
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#41 Principles From Japanese Country Style by Yoshihiro Takishita
Monday, July 31, 2023 • Duration 45:04
I’m very excited this week to delve into "Japanese Country Style: Putting New Life Into Old Houses" by the legendary architect Yoshihiro Takishita. Hailing from Gifu Prefecture, Takishita's journey to becoming a legendary figure in minka restoration is truly self-made. Traveling the globe and mastering the English language as a young man, and returned to Japan and embarked on a path to become a self-taught architect and master carpenter. He has since relocated and restored over 30 kominka townhouses around the world.
The book offers a rich exploration of the cultural significance of kominka. Takishita details the processes of building kominka and designing interiors as well as the remarkable art of removal and reconstruction. Much of the book offers case studies of his commissioned work.
Six Principles From Japanese Country Style by Yoshihiro Takishita
Throughout this book summary, I lay out six key principles that I gleaned as I read "Japanese Country Style":
* Practice Over Theory: Takishita’s first experience with minka restoration was in the field with a live project. As a self-taught architect without formal education in the discipline, Takishita’s style is deeply centered on the wishes of his clients and on nurturing the relationship between the client and the future home.
* Humility and Good Taste: The essence of Japanese country style lies in its modesty, proving that creating an elegant and tasteful living space does not require excessive wealth.
* Harmonious With Nature: Embracing robust natural materials and seamlessly blending with the surroundings, these houses exemplify a deep connection with and respect for nature.
* Built to Endure: With a mindful and forward-thinking approach, these homes are built to endure the test of time, reflecting the wisdom of the past while looking to the future.
* Embracing of Art: These dwellings are open-hearted towards artwork, cherishing the value of aesthetics and creative expression within their walls.
* These houses are thoughtfully personalized to suit the needs and aspirations of their inhabitants, creating spaces that adhere to the human scale and accept the street level.
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#53 Harness the Art of Japanese Joinery For Your Next Project
Thursday, August 8, 2024 • Duration 01:09:17
As opposed to removal work like throwing out trash, cutting bamboo, and organizing storage, my brother and I have finally completed our first tangible contribution to the property: a French drain. Below, I’ve listed the Japanese “netron” pipe product we used for the drain, which is quite unique from the typical perforated pipe you’d find in the United States. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a supplier of netron pipes for you in the US.
The other major task that we completed this month was the removal of an estimated 400 small bales of straw from the attic. With one bale averaging 10 pounds, we removed roughly 2 tons of straw! Bale by bale, we piled them up in the backyard. We wore long sleeves to keep our skin relatively clean, plus we wore heavy-duty respirators. The back-breaking work in the humid attic forced me to enter a mental state of detachment, repeating in my head, “Just one at a time. Just one at a time.” I’m glad it’s over.
As someone with a soft spot for traditional architecture, I’ve been flirting with the idea of re-thatching the old roof. I hesitated to expose the straw to the elements in the backyard because that amount of straw would be enough to thatch most, if not all, of the roof. However, the current priority for me is to reduce the weight of the building in preparation for the foundation retrofit. As a consolation, I have contacted kusa-kanmuri, an incredible thatch roof company in Kobe, to try to donate the straw. I hope it can go to good use.
Having spent over a week in the attic, I have become more familiar with the construction of traditional Japanese roof framing. This makes today’s book all the more timely. The Art Of Japanese Joinery by Kiyoshi Seike has helped me to examine the various wooden joints around the house with a more trained eye.
While it is not a strict how-to manual, the book’s photographs and diagrams helped move me from a pure novice of Japanese joinery to an educated amateur. While I can rely on my brother (a trained carpenter) for detailed woodwork, I will certainly reference Seike’s book for guidance when we start restoring the wood framing.
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#52 How To Save 25% By Being Your Own House Contractor
Monday, July 1, 2024 • Duration 56:34
It’s easy to get discouraged during these early phases when my brother and I are literally moving earth with nothing but shovels, a wheelbarrow, and our bare hands. We move forward inch by inch.
On some days, it does not feel as though we complete much. But when I look back at the photos from one month ago, our progress becomes clear. I feel gratified with the hard work.
This project has humbled me to the raw power of nature. We’ve exerted great energy in forcing the sprawling bamboo roots to unclinch their grip on the earth. We’ve hauled away buckets and buckets of soil that flooded the house over the decades. Most of all, we’ve witnessed the power of water.
Wherever we’ve seen a crack in the roof, we’ve found rotting wood below. Water has also seeped up from the ground and into the crawlspace air, destroying the underside of the floorboards. Water has even softened the soil near the foundation, making the stones start to slip downward.
Our most successful task this month has been the digging of over 300 feet of trenches, to be used as a French drain. This is all in the name of getting the water out. In addition to channeling rain and groundwater into the nearby river, the drain system will also lower the land’s water table. This will keep our future footings dry and will reduce the amount of moisture that enters the crawlspaces.
Once this is done, foundation work will begin. My architect has just begun to draw plans and details for the footings. This will no doubt occupy our July and August. This is the most important part of the structure, so the investment of sweat and persistence will surely pay dividends. Wish us luck.
Today’s book, Be Your Own House Contractor: Save 25% Without Lifting a Hammer, has been a great resource for me to ease my anxiety about the intensity of the work. The author Carl Heldmann provides well-organized lists of every home-building step you need to consider, a breakdown of costs, and the proper sequence of steps. This orderly information has helped me put into perspective where I am now and how far I need to keep going.
My architect has told me, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” This book has helped me understand my place in that marathon and manage my energy for the upcoming year. I hope you find it just as useful.
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#51 Learn to Speak the Classical Language of Architecture
Friday, May 31, 2024 • Duration 01:17:06
My brother has arrived! He settled into his sharehouse, took a tour around the neighborhood, and began working on-site with me. We’ve already made great progress on excavating more trash, old furniture, and unneeded material. A more pristine work site is on its way.
I’ve also met with my architect a few more times. As we wait for the 3D model to come in, I’ve been starting with tasks that don't need an architect’s blueprints. First up is digging French drains around the property. I’ll make sure to share photos of the process, as I’ve researched some best practices from both books and YouTube.
I’m also thinking of renting a backhoe to remove the muddy topsoil from the main road, compact the soil below, and install pavers or cobblestones. I may need to reinforce the side of the road as well. My neighbors have said that the previous owners used to drive their cars all the way up to the house back in the day, so I hope I can mend the road to its previous strength.
I read a quote from T.S. Eliot once that always stuck with me, and it’s been coming to mind quite a bit this month:
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
Even though Eliot first published The Rock in 1934, the quote rings as true today as ever. Thanks to Google, we have the world’s information at our fingertips, and thanks to AI language models, we have it at a moment’s notice.
And thanks to innovations in building technology, we now have the information to build safe, indestructible buildings quickly and cheaply. But I sense that we have lost the wisdom to build beautifully, to build harmoniously.
In today’s podcast, The Classical Language of Architecture will unearth some clues to that wisdom. We will learn about the Greek and Roman “Orders” and how to use them in our buildings. We will learn about the philosophy of harmony and storytelling that drives classical architecture.
The author Sir John Summerson will teach us about the fascinating history of the Orders as well. After the fall of the Roman Empire, societies across the European continent lived among the ruins. But the knowledge of how to build as the Romans faded from memory — until an Italian scholar rediscovered an ancient text by a Roman engineer almost 1,400 years after it was first written.
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And over a 10-20 year holding period, he becomes insensitive to currency vol and so really can’t lose money. He locks in the earnings gains over this period along with whatever spread he keeps between his dividends and his coupons.
The only way this trade blows up, I suppose, is if the Japanese economy totally craters but these companies are sufficiently exposed to the rest of the world that this outcome is pretty unlikely.
It’s inspiring to see folks act this intelligently at scale. That’s why he’s the GOAT.
I’ll add a few other important numbers below for those who, like me, are interested in property acquisition in Japan. Rei and I discuss these numbers on the podcast as well:
Capital Gains Tax on Property Sales in Japan
Short-term capital gains are applied on periods of ownership that are 5 years or less. Long-term capital gains apply for ownership over 5 years. Learn more from this online source:
* Short-term capital gains: 39.63％
* (National income tax 30.63％ + Local inhabitant tax 9％)
* Long-term capital gains: 20.315％
* (National income tax 15.315％ + Local inhabitant tax 5％)
Inheritance Taxes on Property Located in Japan
Check out this article, which I sourced, for more nuanced information. Here are the inheritance tax rates based on the amount received:
* Up to ¥10 million: 10%
* ¥10 million – ¥30 million: 15%
* ¥30 million – ¥50 million: 20%
* ¥50 million – ¥100 million: 30%
* ¥100 million – ¥200 million: 40%
* ¥200 million – ¥300 million: 45%
* ¥300 million – ¥600 million: 50%
* Over ¥600 million: 55%
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“It’s beautiful,” I say to the monk as I snap a photo from my camera.
So many in our modern world thirst for beauty as they live in the concrete jungles. The Japanese also feel this dearth, but they have also been able to rely on their repositories of ancestral culture for an answer: Wandering the quiet stone pathways, I observe a young monk tediously rake the Zen rock garden. An elderly woman wearing garden boots cleans the fields of moss, picking up one maple leaf at a time. As I have experienced time and again, Japanese cities give me the opportunity to escape from their noise and rush — if only I look close enough.
The schools of today, however, have blended in with the hubbub of urban life. They have shed away their clay roof tiles and wooden gateways. In the call by the centralized government of the early 1900s to prepare its people for militarization and factory work, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools in every ward of every city of every prefecture of Japan took on uniform shape.
Four-story gray cement blocks, exposing their off-white piping and random ventilation ducts protruding off the walls, shine their fluorescent lighting through rows of plastic windows. A single clock raised above the schoolyard ticks away with a watchful eye.
To learn more about why these buildings today look the way they do, I take a visit to the Kyoto Municipal Museum of School History. The museum is housed in a modern school building, but its entrance flaunts an antique gateway. Framed by two smooth pillars, this wooden structure is holding onto the way things once were.
“School designs are made by a government agency,” a curator at the museum explains to me. “All plans are based on a general model.”
“When did this transition take place?” I ask.
“Japan started building these modern-style schools around the time of World War One,” he replies. “Government centralization became so prevalent everywhere by 1941 that every elementary school in Japan became public.”
I immediately thought of the very elementary school that I teach at, which celebrated its centennial birthday in 2018. It was built in 1918 — just as the Empire of Japan was stepping onto the world stage.
“In fact, the government became so desperate by 1943 that they even took bronze statues from the schools and melted them to collect metal for the war effort,” the curator adds.
The museum displays a rare bronze statue of Masashige Kusunoki, a famous 14th-century samurai, charging to battle on his horse. It is one of the few that survive.
The tragic melting of statues on behalf of the war machine seems a fitting image to describe the demolition of historic architecture for the sake of economic output. Like in the United States, Japanese school clocks ring in 50-minute intervals. Neat rows of chairs face blackboards in the name of “practicality” so that students retain in their heads the fact that a²+b²=c² and in 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Passing below the wooden gateway, I exit the museum and make my way back onto the city streets. Returning to my apartment, I decide to head to my roof to catch a view of Kyoto’s cityscape. As I clutch the roof railing, I gaze forward to the high-rise next door. Through windows, I see office workers penning paper, typing on keyboards, and generating vitamin D from computer screens.
My eyes move up the walls to the roof. There stands a small, wooden Shinto shrine. Throughout the year, it bakes in the summer heat, tastes the autumn rain, freezes in the winter chill, and smells the spring breeze. A salaryman has made his way to the roof for a smoke break and some sunlight. He takes one last drag and puts the cigarette out. His necktie swaying with the wind, he claps his hands and gives a bow before the shrine.
In the dense cities of our modern world, beauty hangs on quietly in the small things.
Please subscribe to the Local Japan Substack as a free or paid member starting at just $5 a month! Your contributions help me with production costs and the time required to record and edit podcasts and organize interviews. For this, I thank you always.
Local Japan Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Whether you are an architecture enthusiast, an interior design aficionado, or simply captivated by Japanese culture, "Japanese Country Style" offers inspiration for anyone seeking to rediscover the essence of home.
Please subscribe to the Local Japan Substack as a free or paid member starting at just $5 a month! Your contributions help me with production costs and the time required to record and edit podcasts and organize interviews. For this, I thank you always.
Local Japan Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Kiyoshi Seike was one of the most influential architects of Japan’s post-war era. His long list of architectural works includes residential homes, university buildings, and structures for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. The house he built for himself in Toyko, simply titled “My House” (watashi no ie), is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. In fact, you can schedule a visit using this Japanese website if you are interested.
In today’s episode, we take a deep dive into the history of Japanese joinery from Seike’s point of view. We learn about the origins of kiwari, Japan’s human-centered measuring and proportioning system. We learn about how to best implement joinery (namely that you ought to reinforce wooden joints with adhesives, nails, or metal braces). We also get a taste of Seike’s comprehensive and technical list of types of tsugite joints and shiguchi joints. Please enjoy.
Local Japan Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
When you purchase a book (or anything on Amazon) with the links below, you support me and the podcast at no extra cost to you:
How lucky we are to live in a world where that knowledge was not lost forever. For me, Summerson’s book is my first introduction to the classical language of architecture. It has helped me to look at the built environment around me with a fresh set of eyes. Please enjoy.
Local Japan Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
When you purchase a book (or anything on Amazon) with the links below, you support me and the podcast at no extra cost to you:
