Kominka Japan’s mission
is to slow the ongoing disappearance
of traditional Japanese architectural heritage
and to help turn abandoned houses into homes.
Who we are.
Kominka Japan is non-profit organization (application-pending) whose aim is to raise awareness and appreciation for traditional Japanese architecture throughout Japan and around the world.
Our goal is to provide access to resources and the sharing of essential information, to connect people to encourage mutual education and understanding, and to enable passionate individuals to acquire, renovate, maintain, and preserve traditional Japanese buildings.
Kominka Japan is founded with a deep respect for the traditions and craftsmanship that minka uniquely encapsulate, as well as the local communities where these beautiful buildings are located.
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
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Stuart Galbraith IV
Stuart Galbraith IV is a writer and cinema historian, the author of seven books including The Emperor and the Wolf, a joint biography of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, hailed by Martin Scorsese as “a must-read.”
He produces short documentaries, audio commentaries, and essays for DVD and Blu-ray releases of classic Japanese and other movies, and moved to Japan in 2003 following archive work at Warner Bros. and MGM. He lives in an 1810 minka in the mountains north of Kyoto with his wife, Yukiyo, and daughter, Sadie.
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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.
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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
(https://www.instagram.com/inaka_insider/)
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Lauren Scharf
Lauren Scharf lives in a 1907 kominka north of Hakui on the Noto Peninsula with her Scottish husband, two 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 the co-owner of Okuni: Japan Unbound, a travel company that emphasizes lesser-known parts of Japan and deep dives into Japanese culture and history.
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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.
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Deryk Cameron Bliss
Deryk Cameron Bliss is a long-term Tokyo resident, via Northern Canada.
He is currently studying for a doctorate at Waseda University under the broad theme of "adaptive reuse strategies for vernacular built heritage".
He also works as a part-time lecturer in Tokyo as well as a tourism/hospitality trainer & consultant for clients throughout Japan.
