Tatami removal & cleaning

Because of the snow, mixing earth plaster didn't seem such a good prospect, so I concentrated on cleaning and cleaning out.

I removed the extremely old tatami mats of the entrance room, as well as the two northerly bedrooms. I also sweeped floors, walls and beams of those rooms with the vacuum cleaner, to remove some of the dust that still lingers.



Again I found two irori hidden under the mats. It seems every room now has an irori except the north western bedroom. This one is in the small room near the entrance. According to the thatcher who I met a few weeks ago, this was used to put in hot coal for a kotatsu, and people would use the room as an everyday living/dining.

Christmas Surprise

Just before Christmas, I used the long weekend to get some work done at the house. Heading out on Saturday afternoon, I visited one of the locals for tea, and fresh mochi, which his wife prepared in an interesting machine. The next stop was the nearby hot spring, which helped me to recover from the previous night's year end party. Warmed up and relaxed like that, I fell asleep easily.

When I woke up the next morning, a surprise awaited me. The entire landscape has been covered by a 5 cm carpet of fresh white snow!

New Web Front for Inaka Home

Now that the cold winter prevents more of the hands-on activities, and as we wait for quotes from contractors to be delivered, I used the time to add a new web page as a front for inaka home.

If you followed this blog from the start or know us personally, perhaps you will find nothing new on the page. However, from now on we will try to add more structured content on this site, and of course add the reservation system once the house is complete.

Please let me know how you like the design and content - your feedback will help to make our site better!

You can find it at http://www.inakahome.com

Have some nice holidays!

A weekend of little work

Last weekend I could not manage to come before late Saturday evening, as I was part of a panel at the Tsukuba University Open Day. I arrived after dark, so only had time to buy some supplies for breakfast and head to the Onsen.

I met the local carpenter on Sunday, and Tomo managed to pop round at the same time. Before that, I used the fresh morning air to dig a trench in front of the house. I plan to put a drainage pipe to carry the run-off water from the roof clear from the woodwork of the house.



I placed a few large pebbles where the water normally drips down, to break the fall and avoid the splashing.



So overall not much (physical)work this weekend.

Doing business in Inaka

Several weeks before I made friends with one local gentleman, whom I explained about our ideas of fixing the house. Besides helping me to understand the village better, as well as receive more background about my neighbours, and the previous owner's history, it was very useful in finding craftsmen for the job at hand.

Thanks to his great effort, I was introduced to a local thatcher who is going to make us a new roof, and this weekend I was being introduced to the village's carpenter.

Business in the countryside is quite different than in the city. You first sit down near the irori. Then you drink tea/cofee and maybe eat a mikan orange or sweet. You are introduced to each other, including school history, and great achievements, plans for the future, and keep chatting about various things. Finally the issue at hand is tackled, and its decided what needs to be done. In a simple case its decided, and agreed straight away.

Because everyone knows everyone in the village, trust is the most important thing to maintain. No trades men can cheat any villager, otherwise everyone will know and stop doing business. Therefore locally better price can be obtained, than using outside companies. In fact, local people highly distrust outsiders who offer service, particularly if its competing with local service.

For Inaka Home, we must be careful to also respect this trust and honour based system. We have received courtesy and trust already, so we must show ourselves worthy of it. Of course, at the same time we must be wary, that we do not have a conflict with our mission.