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Adopt a thatched roof kominka (urgent…)

This cutie will be torn down in October.
See more photos from this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kKeHXLMNTJPS7KGr8
Foot print (at wall centerline) is about 10m x 9.7m. Add 1m all around for projected roof line.
1 Story. Over 100 years old.
Located in Miyazu city, near the seashore. The straw roof is covered with sheet metal, anyway as you can see from the interior pics, the foundation (on isolated tsukaishi) the large beams, the smoked bamboo covering the inside part of the roof, the bent beams inside the roof structure are perfectly healthy.

Cost of dismantling (parts numbering etc.) about 30,000 USD.
Timber frame is all made with nuki-construction. Basically not a single metal nail. You pull out some wedges and it can be neatly dismantled without damage for the parts.

Cost of transportation: I guess one 40 ft container, considering that you will have to provide for new tatami, new shoji and fusuma etc.
The windows are cheap aluminum frame sashes and should be replaced.
It would be wonderful if you could remake the straw locally – if at all possible.
The walls are tsuchi-kabe (adobe with bamboo framing) and should also be done on site.
Or you can do timber-frame walls if you are not a purist and finish the external walls with plaster or wood slats.

Basically, you can have the structure for 40,000 USD (roughly, including transportation.)
Depending on the construction costs in your area you will need to add 100,000 USD to build and finish it.

Let me know if interested and I can obtain more precise quotations.
Here below, is a proposal considering the creation of a “doma” concrete or stone floor for an open kitchen area and rebuilding the wet areas with a hinoki bathtub (YUIP!)

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new product: hinoki kumiko beds!

It finally happened!
After relaxing in a hinoki bath, now you can relax for the rest of the night in a hinoki bed! ☆彡

Another fruit of the collaboration with Murayama-sensei: here is … the kumiko bed!

For the time being, we have 2 sizes available (queen and single)

Both are available in the following versions:
1) as a full bed including frame (no mattress)
-and-
2) bed head only (the type commonly used in hotels)

The bed can be lit from behind (but no electrical fixtures are included from our side)

For sizes/prices/design options, check our product page:

https://bartokdesign.com/category/interior-products/kumiko-beds

Collaboration with Shinichi Murayama

A common friend introduced me to a genial wood craftsman from Western Kyoto…
And it was love at first sight!

Bartok design Japan Co. will be the official distributor for the products of Murayama Mokko worldwide!
-> to the shop page

Shinichi Maruyama is specialized in the “Kumiko” technique which is used to create shoji and other traditional interior items. (See below for more details)
But Maruyama-sensei pushed the technique towards new unimaginable horizons with curved kumiko, three-dimensional kumiko, and stunning interiors for leading hotels such as Ritz Carlton, Prince Hotel, ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel, FAUCHON L’Hotel, and others.

(more…)

countdown to Komika summit 2022!

UPDATE: the data connection is very bad 💦
I am not sure I will be able to do the live streaming…
Please check the facebook page for the last minute updates:
https://www.facebook.com/itorrini

in the morning from 8:00 to 9:00 JST I will try to make a guided tour of some old japanese houses in the area.

As anticipated last month, our participation at the Kominka Summit is confirmed!
And even more amazingly: here is a list of the other companies that will exhibit at the Minka mall !!

Toda Komuten
Midori Farm
Somakosha
Writer’s Booth Azby Brown & Alex Kerr
Kohachi Beerworks (Nobu & Jul)
Bartok design co.
山の家具工房 (local traditional wood furniture)
Sasayuri-Ann
Sustainable Daisen (Giant Salamander NPO)
Heart Country Stove
Daimon Brewery
Permaculture Center Kamimomi
Somokusha (Japanese Natural Herbal Tea)
Hideshina
Hanase-Hirogawa Booth
Shimamura Yoshi Shoten
Iju House Project
Kyoto Prefectural Agricultural Council
Hanase Recycle Shop (Ohki-san)
Association of Traditional Reconstruction Professionals
A・UN Ambience Lamps 
The Kominka Collective
The Kominka Japan Association’s U.S. Office
Kominka Forum
Japan Minka Revival Association
ARK Animal Refuge Kansai
Miyama Thatched Roof Co., Ltd
Suikoushya International Craft School in Kyoto 
Nantan City Regional Promotion
Alex Kerr Antiques
Miyama Wood Engineer

But Kominka Summit 2022 is not only the Minka mall exhibition.
If the management approves, I will try to sneak into the seminar room and bring you to your homes the wisdom of our top-batters:

Keynote speaker for the event is author and lifelong minka and inaka advocate Alex Kerr, whose 300-year-old minka in the Iya Valley, Chiiori, is one of the best-known in all of Japan.

Other speakers include Azby Brown, acclaimed author of seminal books including The Genius of Japanese Carpentry and Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan; traditional plasterer Kyle Holzhueter (the first westerner to pass the level one Japanese National Plastering Exam); traditional architects Jonathan Stollenmeyer and partner Kohei Yamamoto (1st class licensed architect and carpenter); organic farmer and educator Chuck Keyser; and Jaya Thursfield, whose YouTube channel (under the name “Tokyo Llama”) documents his traditional home’s renovation and has more than 15 million views. 

(If I cannot sneak in, I will try to interview them after the events)

I am planning to stay connected with zoom and facebook-live during the event and provide a virtual tour to all of you who cannot participate in person.


Topic: kominka summit 2022 through iacopo`s eyes
Time: Apr 22, 2022 03:00 PM Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81938784994?pwd=N1hNeHdLUGRUbS9BYkFMUVJrbmJrQT09

Meeting ID: 819 3878 4994 Passcode: 777


Last but definitely not least, a big thank you to Stuart Galbraith IV who gave the breath of life to the Summit \(^o^)/
I am looking forward to it!

Komika summit 2022!

It seems too good to be true !!

But apparently, it is true !!!

We have been invited to participate at the ”Minka Summit 2022” (22-24 April 2022) in Hanase (Kyoto)

There will be some 50 exhibition booths related to traditional crafts, restoration of folk houses etc.
Bartok design will have a small exhibition booth featuring at least one ofuro and our best smiles!

Experts in Japanese culture such as Alex Kerr and many other amazing keynote speakers will also be at the event.

It is really a dream come true. Absolutely awestriking!!

Check the homepage, SNS pages for more info: https://kominkajapan.org/

Tickets can be purchased here: https://peatix.com/event/3149245

I am planning to stay connected with zoom or facebook-live during the event and provide a virtual tour to all of you who cannot participate in person.

Come back to this page for updates \(^o^)/

Enjoy blue skies and pink sakuras in 2022!

a beautyful sunny and blue sky on the Jirinkongou karesansui!
Stunning photos received from the Wabi Sabi Ryokan in S. Ginesio (Sibillini mountains) – Italy
Address: Via Papa Giovanni XXIII, 62026 San Ginesio MC, Italy
Phone: +39 335 396 025

https://www.wabisabiculture.org/

finally, almost a miracle of nature: sakura blossoming in winter! Only at Wabi Sabi!!

let`s think brighter in 2022!

How are you? I trust you are enjoying a serene holiday season.
I wish you a very happy year-end, in the warmth of your family, and a shining beginning of the New Year. \(^o^)/
2021 has been a challenging one.
But “challenges” have always been part of our lives and always will be: as the hatred examinations when we were in school, every challenge helps us to improve and become stronger and wiser.

The trick is to maintain a positive attitude and remember that “thoughts create reality”: even in this long Covid parentheses, I trust you will treasure the positive facets of this situation and continue to keep an eye towards a brighter future and what we can do on a daily basis to make it happen.

I am wondering when we will be able to break free from the compulsory habit to wear a mask all the time.

(more…)

handmade cutting boards

A nice couple come to our workshop in Yotsukaido (near Narita airport) to see the timber that will be used for their ofuro project and our Mr. Ikeda surprised them with expressly made hinoki cutting boards.

What a treat!

First, the planks are roughly planed by machine

then, the edges are rectified

both sides are made smooth and silky with a fine electric plane

then the corners are mitered

and finally the iron brand is applied. Just few seconds, Ikeda-san!

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