Kominka Japan's mission is to propagate and disseminate essential information concerning minka—traditional Japanese farmhouses—along with related traditional structures and their endangered, unique building methods. By facilitating access to resources, connecting like-minded people and groups, and enabling passionate individuals to acquire, renovate, maintain, and preserve minka through the online resources and educational events we provide, Kominka Japan will raise both appreciation and awareness of this singularly Japanese architectural heritage domestically and abroad while working to revitalize sustainable rural Japanese communities.
We have many exciting events, activities, and projects planned for 2024 and 2025, including:
The launch of a newsletter with articles written by and for our kominka community
Regional gatherings featuring visits to local minka and opportunities to meet and share experiences and expertise
Online and hybrid seminars and workshops on a wide variety of themes and topics
A web-based forum with specific topics where members can share information, ask & answer questions, and more.
A Mini Minka Summit in Spring 2025
The Minka Summit in Shinshiro, Aichi from December 5th to 7th, 2025
Watch this space!
The popularity of the Facebook group Kominka Japan – a Resource for Traditional Japanese Residences made it apparent that there was a sizeable and genuinely committed global fanbase for the distinctive style of Japan’s traditional architecture.
United by our passion for minka preservation, our founding members decided to put our drive, ideas, and enthusiasm toward creating a useful association to help achieve our goal of preserving kominka, machiya, and other examples of classic Japanese architecture.
Meet the Kominka Japan team
-
Vince Ng
Vince Ng has been in the hospitality and tourism business since 2014 operating various cafes, guesthouses and hostels in Osaka and Kyoto.
Finding balance between working remotely as a consultant and farming rice, he has since moved to a minka in the Tango penninsula along the Sea of Japan in Kyoto Prefecture. He is starting an organic farm and inaka experience program for those looking to learn about rural living or wanting a retreat from stressful urban life.
He is an active member of the Yasaka Shrine Mikoshi Association and partakes in numerous Shinto festivals as a shrine bearer across Japan.
Follow Vince on Instagram
-
Andrea Carlson
Andrea Carlson, PhD, works in the International Relations Department at Aichi Prefectural University and is involved in local groups that are working to protect kominka and revitalize rural communities.
She has a background in Social Psychology and carries out research and organizes conferences and seminars related to mental health support for young people with diverse backgrounds in Japan. In the future she hopes to restore a kominka in a rural area as a place to hold retreats for children and young people from marginalized communities.
-
Lauren Scharf
Lauren Scharf lives in a 1907 kominka north of Hakui on the Noto Peninsula with her Scottish husband, five adventurous rescue cats, and a quirky standard poodle. She and her husband entirely self-renovated, furnishing the place with an assortment of antiques, recycle shop treasures, hand-built items, and a few new pieces. She is also an aspiring organic gardener with the goal of being as self-sustainable as possible in a few years.
When not plastering walls or battling garden slugs, she's a consultant promoting travel to lesser-known parts of Japan and deep dives into Japanese culture and history.
-
Wendy Bigler
Wendy Bigler has spent much of the past few decades admiring, and sometimes restoring, old houses in her native US and now Japan. Her husband is a lifelong farmer from Mexico, and together they are renovating a simple hundred year-old farmhouse in Nagano and raising Mexican vegetables using environmentally-conscious methods.
She spins wool into yarn and weaves, and aspires to one day tend a small flock of sheep. With an undergraduate degree in Biology and Masters and PhD. in Geography (indigenous environmental history) she has twenty years experience in secondary and higher education, and now focuses on international college counseling and essay coaching.
-
Deryk Cameron Bliss
Deryk Cameron Bliss is a long-term (somewhat reluctant) Tokyo resident, via Northern Canada.
Initial interest in Japanese built heritage conservation was first sparked while working throughout the country as a trainer for hotels and tourism organizations. This would eventually lead to graduate studies at the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage at the University of Birmingham and a PhD at Waseda University, with both degrees focused on adaptive reuse strategies for these unique structures.
He is currently a part-time lecturer at several universities in Tokyo, with the occasional foray as a tourism and hospitality consultant.
Connect with Deryk on LinkedIn
