古民家を、住み継ぐ
Carrying the Farmhouse Forward
Not demolition, but continued use. We read what a kominka still holds — its frame, its materials, its memory — and restore or relocate it for the way people live now. Esumi Atelier has restored 29 of them and relocated 7. The practice has also been entrusted with two sites the Japanese state designates as National Historic Sites: Gakuenji temple, a five-year conservation of the Shakado and Kaisando halls, and Chikoin temple with Kanayago Shrine.
How we approach it
再生と移築の考え方Restoration再生
A century-old timber frame is a flexible structure. Place shear walls through it with judgement, replace what has decayed, and it will stand another hundred years. New design is brought in without erasing the history the building already carries.
Relocation移築
Dismantled, carried, and raised again somewhere else. Soan Restaurant Suzuna is a Taisho-period farmhouse brought from Gifu, three hundred kilometres away. The frame is read, then re-composed for a new site and a new life.
New life活用
A house, an inn, a shop, a gallery. Across uses, old joinery is given modern comfort — and a reason to go on standing.
Enquiries about a kominka
We take on kominka restoration and relocation from feasibility study through design and site supervision. If you own an old house and are wondering what could be done with it, please just ask. Enquiries in English are welcome.