AZBY BROWN

Keynote Speaker and Minka Master Panel Member

Originally from New Orleans, Azby Brown has lived in Japan since 1985. A widely published author and authority on Japanese architecture, design, and environment, his groundbreaking writings on traditional Japanese carpentry, compact housing, and traditional sustainable practices of Japan have brought these fields to the awareness of Western designers and the public.

In addition to The Genius of Japanese Carpentry, he has written Small Spaces (1993), The Japanese Dream House (2001), The Very Small Home (2005), and Just Enough: Lessons in LivingGgreen fromTraditional Japan (2010). He retired in 2017 from the Kanazawa Institute of Technology, where he founded the Future Design Institute, and is currently on the sculpture faculty of Musashino Art University in Tokyo.

YOSHIHIRO TAKISHITA

Minka Masters Panel Member

Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1945, Takishita was a law student at Waseda University when he and his family befriended John Roderick, a reporter representing the Tokyo Bureau of the Associated Press. Learning that a minka in his hometown was about to be submerged in a reservoir project, they conspired to disassemble and move it to Kamakura, where it was rebuilt and quickly became the Gold Standard for minka restoration and renovation.

After hitchhiking around the world, Takishita established The House of Antiques, selling traditional furniture, screens, ceramics, and other treasures. He also became the preeminent self-taught minka architect, disassembling Gifu minka and rebuilding some 30 of them since 1967, mostly in the Kanto region but as far away as Buenos Aires and Honolulu. Many of these restored minka are featured in Takishita’s Japanese Country Living, an essential book for anyone that loves minka. He is also the focus of Davina Pardo’s documentary short Minka: A Farmhouse in Japan, beautifully adapted from Roderick’s same-named memoirs.

ALEX KERR

Minka Masters Panel Member

Long respected within the kominka community, Alex Kerr is a lifelong advocate of minka preservation and rural community revitalization. His own 300-year-old minka in the Iya Valley, Chiiori, is one of the best-known in all of Japan, and his revitalization efforts in Iya, rooted in sustainable tourism and living in harmony with nature serve as a model for other struggling rural villages.

After living in Japan during the mid-1960s, when his naval officer father was stationed in Yokohama, Kerr returned to Japan periodically, discovering the Iya Valley in 1971 and purchasing what would become Chiiori in 1973. He moved to Japan full-time in 1977.

Since Chiiori, Kerr has restored dozens of rural houses throughout Japan. His book Lost Japan (1993) was awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for best non-fiction. His subsequent works include Dogs and Demons (2002) and Another Kyoto (with Kathy Arlyn Sokol, 2016).

NILS WETTERLIND

Presenter: “Saving the Treasures”

Nils Wetterlind has worked in real estate his entire career, starting in London in the late 1980s. He has done projects for, amongst others, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Karma Resorts; he has project managed ski resorts in Austria, golf resorts in Spain and Portugal, beach resorts in Mauritius and several projects in Koh Samui and Phuket. He had his “eco conversion” in Bali, where he was deeply involved with Green School and was the co-developer of Green Village, the world’s first and, so far, only five-star carbon neutral luxury resort, built entirely out of bamboo. He started Heritage Homes Japan in 2019 and has relocated and restored a number of large kominka from Gifu and Niigata to Hakuba and Niseko, and operates a full-service construction, renovation, architecture and real estate firm. In 2023 the company restored 12 machiya in Kyoto and are contracted to double this during 2024.

Presentati on Description

MARCUS CONSOLINI

Panelist: Connecting with the Legacy of Your Minka

As the first foreign CEO (代表取締役) of a Japanese Sake Brewery in Japanese history, Marcus is focused on rebuilding Craft Businesses as well as championing the traditional ways of Japan.

Born in New York City to an Italian immigrant family in the FnB Industry, Marcus gave up restaurant management for a career on Wall Street working for companies such as Deloitte & Touche, American Express, and JPMorgan. His career quickly took him to Asia where he has lived across the region and specializing in Investment Banking and Strategic Consulting.

Marcus discovered Daimon Brewery in early 2017 and soon acquired it, turning it into one of the fastest growing Sake breweries in the Kansai region. Marcus recently completed renovations on his traditional minka in Wachi, Kyotamba, Kyoto Prefecture.

STUART GALBRAITH IV

Moderator: Minka Masters Panel

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.

LAUREN SCHARF

Kominka Japan Board Member

Moderator: Lessons from Noto – Personal Stories & Disaster Mitigation with Mitsuo Tsurutani, Jeremy Phillipps, Myro Bachura, and others.

Lauren Scharf lives in a 1907 kominka north of Hakui on the Noto Peninsula with her Scottish husband, Puukko the standard poodle, and three surprisingly useful cats.. 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. Since the pandemic began, she has also focused her energy on organic gardening with the goal of being as self-sustainable as possible in a few years.

When not plastering walls or refinishing cabinets, 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.

JOY JARMAN-WALSH (JJ WALSH)

Moderator: How to Find and Renovate a Minka with Sam Holden, Mark Benham, and David Caprara

Joy Jarman-Walsh (JJ Walsh) is a sustainability-focused consultant and content creator based in Hiroshima. Originally from Hawaii, she co-founded GetHiroshima in 1999 and InboundAmbassador in 2019.

Since early 2020, Joy has been the host and producer of Seeking Sustainability Live (SSL), a talk show & podcast of interviews with "Good People Doing Great Things in Japan." Many of the most popular episodes focus on the value of traditional Japanese buildings, design, and the inspiration from many kominka projects across Japan.

ANDREA CARLSON

Kominka Japan Board Member

Moderator: Community Building, Preservation of Old Buildings, and Passing on Traditional Building Arts in other Countries with Christopher Ohrstrom, Adam Miller, Koji Toda, Kunito Niwa, and others.

Andrea Carlson 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. Recently, she has also become involved in initiatives to use minka that are going to be torn down in creative ways in order to save the materials and raise awareness of traditional building methods. 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.

EMILY KANEKO REYNOLDS

Presenter: Presentation / Demonstration: Tsuchikabe/Mud Walls: What They Are and an Overview of Their Restoration

Emily Kaneko Reynolds was born and partially raised in Tokyo, learning Japanese from a young age. In her late teens she was exposed to permaculture ideology’s natural building philosophy in the US, and was particularly drawn to earthen plasters. 20 years ago she learned of Japan’s versions of earthen walls and was smitten. She has been learning more to share more, ever since. Emily currently works in a fourth generation sakan company in Kyoto. She has published two books, Japan’s Clay Walls: A Glimpse into Their Plaster Craft (2009) and Sakan at Work: Japan’s Natural Plasters (2019, awaiting re-publishing). She is also close to finishing a PhD in earthen architecture at Kyoto Institute of Technology. She recently moved to Keihoku, north of Kyoto City, with her carpenter husband. They are looking forward to both restoring old gorgeous wood and earth buildings, as well as creating wood and earth renovations which draw from both Western and Japanese manners.

RYOSEI KANEKO

Presenter: How to Make your (Ko)minka More Livable and More Comfortable

Ryosei Kaneko is a Shokunin and Toryo. He is a seasoned carpenter, versatile in both Japanese joinery and Western timber-framing. His 40 years of experience has taught him that 90% of carpentry is problem solving. (Ko)Minka are a problem-solver’s dream! Two years ago he moved with his wife to a 50-year-old minka in the country side of Kyoto. Here, his life-experiences have allowed him to imagine how to make this beautiful, well-built structure more comfortable for a modern family.

Presentation Description

What are common issues in these old houses? Outdated plumbing/septic systems, inconvenient electrical systems, draftiness and chilliness. Get practical DIY tips to deal with these issues from the point of view of a career carpenter whose work spans across Japan and the US. Also, get tips about what to look for when looking for a (ko)minka from a seasoned I-turner Keihoku local with lots of experience de-structing and con-structing.

MITSUO TSURUTANI

Workshop Leader: “Using a Hand Plane to Create Chopsticks”, “Making Xylophones from Old Floorboards” and “Making a Wooden Jungle Gym” with members of the Japan Kominka Association

Panelist: Lessons from Noto – Personal Stories & Disaster Mitigation

Born in Kobe, Japan in 1968, I am the Vice President of the Japan Kominka Association and a First Class Architect and Building Inspector.

My first memory is that of the back of a carpenter carving wood - a big back and a hearty laugh. I grew up surrounded by such craftsmen in my grandfather's construction company.

In earthquake-prone Japan, I think it is essential to improve the performance of both ordinary and traditional houses. If you have any concerns about housing, please feel free to consult with us. We are also involved in many renovations of kominka across Japan

SHELLEY CLARK

Moderator and Panelist: Connecting with the Legacy of Your Minka with Jeremy Phillipps, Marcus Consolini, and Brett Rasmussen

Shelley Clarke is an international fisheries management analyst working for the United Nations and other public sector clients around the world from her base in Shizuoka Prefecture. She has lived in Japan since 2003 (and since 2022 as a Japanese citizen) when she received a post-doctoral fellowship after her experience working on a Japanese fishing vessel in the Bering Sea. In her adopted village of Sasama, she is an avid cyclist, koto musician and Kagura dancer, but her main focus recently has been the restoration of a sprawling estate (Sasu・Ichi) which was abandoned by the area’s most wealthy family. In addition to running a teahouse (Chaya Hotaru) on the property every Saturday, her nostalgic AirBnB lodging and retro private bathhouse (Kawasemi Cottage) is always fully booked and listed as a “guest favorite” despite its remote location.

JEREMY PHILLIPPS

Panelist: Connecting to the Legacy of Your Minka

Jeremy Phillipps has called Kanazawa home for more than thirty years, where his interest in architecture and built environments led to him doing his doctoral thesis on the post-Meiji history of Japanese urban space.

In between teaching at the university, translation work, and tourism-related projects for the government and local authorities, he found time to buy a traditional azumadachi gabled farmhouse, drawn by the massive wooden beams and pillars that support the house against the large amounts of snow common in the region. Also because owning a classic Jaguar wasn’t enough of a money pit….

While his previous knowledge of traditional house design was largely theoretical, he is discovering there is much to learn about the history and architecture of kominka from a more hands-on approach. In particular, he prefers traditional materials and techniques wherever possible to understand how these buildings were constructed, as a way to connect to the past.

MIROSLAV BACHURA

Presenter: “Reshaping Heritage: Sustainably Revitalizing Japanese Architecture”

Panelist: Lessons from Noto – Personal Stories & Disaster Mitigation

My name is Miroslav Bachura, and I am an architect from Slovakia. I graduated with a double-degree master’s at Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Architecture, studying architecture and urban planning. I became acquainted with Yoshiaki Amino, current dean of the department of Architecture, Faculty of Design Engineering at Hosei University, while I did an exchange program, where I learned a great deal about sustainable wooden architecture, which influenced me to become a research student at Waseda University, where I spent 2 years at Takashi Ariga seminar, researching urban morphology of Tokyo water canals and rivers. After Waseda University I chose to work at Marureve’s structural engineering office and Marudai, based in Fuji city. For 2.5 years I worked and learned about earthquakes and modern Japanese wooden structural engineering, as well as prepared Shizuoka-prefectural construction material for Tokyo Olympic 2020 Village Plaza. Currently, I am working at the Sozosya, an architectural design office, based in Shizuoka, focusing on building renovations, architectural design, and machizukuri, local urban development projects. Meanwhile, some of the projects I have worked on together with my friend Martin Kožnar in Prague are getting awards and exposure for sustainable architecture.

MASAKAZU ISHII

Presenter: How to Make your (Ko)minka More Livable and More Comfortable

Maskazu Ishii was born in Fushimi, Kyoto, and his working career started with demolition. Becoming deftly skilled with controlling machinery large and small, 12 years ago he decided it was time to quit destroying things and start making things. He moved to the countryside of Keihoku. He now primarily calls himself a rice farmer, but he is constantly in demand by locals across the region who ask for his assistance on all kinds of projects; from environmental engineering to landscaping and garden maintenance, stone masonry etc, etc. He continues to work on his minka with his wife as they raise their young daughter.

Presentation Description

What are common issues in these old houses? Outdated plumbing/septic systems, inconvenient electrical systems, draftiness and chilliness. Get practical DIY tips to deal with these issues from the point of view of a career carpenter whose work spans across Japan and the US. Also, get tips about what to look for when looking for a (ko)minka from a seasoned I-turner Keihoku local with lots of experience de-structing and con-structing.

MILT YAMADA

Panelist: Panelist: Community Building, Preservation of Old Buildings, and Passing on Traditional Building Arts in Japan

Milt Yamada is from Hawaii and has been researching real estate in Japan since 2018 for his son who lives and works in Tokyo. Since he

could not come to Japan during the pandemic he continued studying rea estate when he happened to read about “Kominka, Akiya and Machiya” and the dilemma of depopulation and abandoned farmhouses in the rural areas of Japan. With all the beautiful Japanese carpentry being torn down it seemed so “motainai” to hear about this disappearing craftsmanship being lost to destruction.

In June of 2022 he was offered an opportunity to visit a kominka in Niigata and actually purchased it since it was basically “abandoned”

as the owner no longer lived in it. The rest is history and Japan Kominka Rescue was created with the mission to save more farmhouses and revitalize the communities they are in.

DAVID CAPRARA

Panelist: How to Find and Renovate a Minka

David Caprara lives in the Yoshino region of Nara in an old house that he bought in the summer of 2023, largely due to the inspiration that he gained from last year’s Summit.

He first came to Yoshino as an English teacher with the JET Programme in 2012 and fell in love with the area and the people through taiko and a photography hobby that eventually evolved into a career as a journalist. He works as a news producer for outlets such as CBS News, NHK World, VICE News and spends his free time dusting off and going through the treasures that came with his house.

MICHELLE HUANG

Presenter: “Regenerating Kominka As Community Art Spaces”

Michelle Huang is the founder and president of Akiya Collective. She is also an experience architect at Digital Architecture Lab, and a mixed-media artist focused primarily on human flourishing x immersive experiences. Her work has been featured on Business Insider, NPR, Vox Media (Now This), ABC, CNET, The Independent, BBC, and more.

Michelle will be speaking about Akiya Collective’s open-source approach to crowdsource renovation and initiatives, as well as the next steps for their first recently purchased community home (all fully grant-funded).

In creating more spatial containers which are preserved and remixed by its constituents, our project aims to balance cultural syncretism and preservation into persistent social, ecological, and physical architectures that all can contribute to and find inspiration from.

ARBOR

Presenter: “Regenerating Kominka As Community Art Spaces”

Arbor is an artist, designer, and researcher based in Taiwan. He creates immersive installations and live performances that explore the experiential qualities of light.

He is interested in the potential of minka as new kinds of artistic spaces, and creating site-specific light artworks that connect the past, present, and future of these unique homes.

Arbor was previously a designer at RNDR, Netherlands, and a researcher in Human-Computer Interaction at the National Taiwan University, University of Waterloo, and the ATLAS Institute.

ADAM MILLER

Presenter: “Scribing with Wild Timber”

Panelist: Community Building, Preservation of Old Buildings, and Passing on Traditional Building Arts in other Countries

Adam Miller is an independent carpenter and consultant specializing in timber and log framing. His practice ranges from practical, vernacular projects in the New England square-rule tradition to complicated, innovative works that push the boundaries of organic-form scribing. He has a particular research interest in l’art du trait, the stereotomical drawing tradition of the French compagnon carpenters. A frequent presenter at conferences of the Timber Framers Guild (North America), the Carpenter’s Fellowship (UK), and Stolpverk Norden (the Scandinavian timber framing association), his articles have appeared in Log Building News, The Mortice and Tenon (UK), Northern Woodlands, Scantlings, and Timber Framing, the technical journal of the Timber Framers Guild, for which he has served as editor since 2018. Adam teaches basic and advanced curricula for the Heartwood School (Washington, Massachusetts, and Alstead, New Hampshire), the Timber Framers Guild Community Building Workshop program, Bard College, and in private instruction.

Adam lives in the hills of Vermont, in the northeastern United States, and travels widely for interesting projects. Examples of his carpentry work and publications can be found at adammillercarpentry.com.

MARK and MEHAK BENHAM

Presenter: “Creating a Connection with the Local Community”

Panelist: How to Find and Renovate a Minka

“The Awarenest”, is situated in the heart of Ishikawa prefecture’s Noto Peninsula, is where Mark and Mehak have made their nest. Mark is from the U.K. and has been an English language teacher for almost two decades now. He has a passion for linguistics and works in a nearby high school. Although his interests were primarily philosophy and Buddhism, as a result of owning a minka, they have expanded into DIY carpentry and everything minka. Having never held a hammer before, he is now confident in any taking up any renovation challenge. Mehak, originally from India, has a lifelong passion for health and wellness. She worked as a school counselor and yoga teacher before coming to Japan. Although her day job is as an English Teacher, her passion remains in teaching yoga and Indian traditional dance, and offering these lessons in their minka is a soul nourishing experience for her.

Their dream is to transform their minka into a health and wellness center and guest house. They have been working and learning about renovating their minka while living in it and dealing with various issues that come with each passing season and year. They are blessed with good friends and neighbors who have been a huge support in their journey so far. They hope that their story as regular people can help inspire and motivate other minka dreamers.

SAM HOLDEN

Panelist: Community Building, Preservation of Old Buildings and Historical Properties, and Passing on Traditional Building Arts in Japan

Panelist: How to Find and Renovate a Minka

Sam Holden is an urban activist engaged in preservation and renovation projects in Tokyo and Onomichi, Hiroshima. He also works as a translator and writer. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Sam first came to Japan in 2006-2007. After moving back to Tokyo in 2014, Sam researched renovation while at the University of Tokyo before becoming a practitioner himself. His projects are tied together by an interest in creating common spaces and local communities. His first renovation project, Tokyo Little House turned a 1948 house into a hotel, gallery and cafe and preserved one of the last remaining postwar structures in its central Tokyo neighborhood.

His other Tokyo project, Inari-yu Nagaya, created a new community space in a century-old row house connected to a public bath. This cultural property was restored by his non-profit organization Sento & Neighborhood with funding from the World Monuments Fund.

For the past three years, Sam has also been creating Onomichi Labyrinth House, an ambitious rebuilding of several free houses into an experimental community space to support an aging hillside community in Hiroshima Prefecture. Sam is actively involved in all stages of renovation, from conception and financing, to architectural design and DIY construction.

This will be Sam’s first appearance at the Minka Summit, where he will be sharing his experiences renovating historic structures in different contexts, and his approach to creating essential common spaces by engaging with and fostering local communities.

CHRISTMAS UCHIYAMA

Presenter: Dynamic practices for building experience of “sharing” and social common capital: House renovation in Tamba-Sasayama with rich “nature”

Christmas Uchiyama is a research assistant at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) based in Kyoto.

Chris is also a third year PhD student in Kobe University Graduate School of Agriculture conducting research on Cryptomeria japonica (Sugi) growth in Kyushu. Her major interests are dendrochronology, climate impacts on trees, and sustainability science.

You can find Chris measuring tree rings and slicing wood samples. On weekends, she spends her time in Kitajima, Tamba-Sasayama learning more about nature, gardening, and enjoying talks with neighbors.

YUTA UCHIYAMA

Presenter: Dynamic practices for building experience of “sharing” and social common capital: House renovation in Tamba-Sasayama with rich “nature”

Yuta Uchiyama is an assistant professor at the Kobe University Graduate School of Human Development and Environment. His major interests are urban-regional planning and GIS. He conducts comprehensive studies on urban-rural linkages and inclusive environmental management towards minimizing socio-ecological gaps and enhancing people’s well-being under uncertain futures.

As conceptual backgrounds, he is interested in dark ecology and public space (e.g. The Production of Space).

Other than teaching and research, he likes cooking, the outdoors, and rivers.

UBERTO BARBINI

Panelist: Lessons from the Noto Earthquake” Panel Discussion

Uberto, originally from Venice, has lived in Düsseldorf and London before making the move to Japan amid the COVID crisis. What began as a hobby of studying Japanese blossomed into an unexpected yet beautiful journey, leading to his marriage with Ayumi. Now, he is the proud father of a "bellissima" daughter. Professionally, Uberto develops software for financial institutions. However, his heart truly belongs to woodworking and DIY projects. Presently, he is living out his dream alongside his family, pouring love and craftsmanship into renovating an ancient traditional Japanese house.