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Kominka

The Beauty and Wisdom of Japanese Traditional Folk Houses

Kazuo Hasegawa

For centuries, traditional wooden folk houses known as “kominka” have embodied the cultural values of the agrarian, merchant, and samurai societies of pre-modern Japan, withstanding earthquakes and other natural disasters while demonstrating the artistry of Japanese carpenters and the strength of handcrafted wood joinery. Preserved and reconstructed today, kominka offer silent testimony to the enduring beauty and resilience of Old Japan.

Kazuo Hasegawa’s profusely illustrated book introduces readers to Japan’s unique vernacular architecture, equips travelers with a guide to the island nation’s 101 must-visit kominka and villages, and is a useful reference for those who are planning to embark, as the author did, on a kominka renovation journey of their own.

KOMINKA:
The Beauty and Wisdom of
Japanese Traditional Folk Houses

by Kazuo Hasegawa
ISBN: 978-1-940842-70-7
Museyon Books
Japan/Travel/Architecture
Hard Cover
411 pages, Full Color
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches V
US$28.95 CAN$38.95
July 2024

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About the Author
Kazuo Hasegawa, former publisher of the widely circulated real estate periodical, Jutaku Joho, is one of Japan’s leading advocates for the preservation of historic kominka. For more than forty years, he has traveled the length and breadth of Japan, photographing the simple beauty of traditional houses and rural old towns. In 2010, his dream came true when he reconstructed a 100-year-old kominka of his own in Yamanashi Prefecture.

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