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| Visit to Kamakura,
March 2008 |
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The Looking to rediscover Japanese Culture, the ESUJ outing on March 29
(Sat) was a visit to a traditional farmhouse in Kamakura, where the cherry blossom was in
full bloom. Under a deep blue sky, our 30-member group arrived at the home of architect
Yoshihiro Takishita on Genjiyama, which has a fine view of Sagami Bay.
With the group fully assembled, Takishita-san began his tour of the interior of the house,
speaking humorously in fluent English. Around 40 years ago, this mid-Edo era
gasshozukuri-style house was moved to Kamakura from Izumimura in Fukui Prefecture and
reconstructed to fit present-day living conditions, creating an amazing 'new' old
farmhouse. Under the high ceiling of the house's steep-sloping-rafter roof, the group
could appreciate the warmth of the wooden pillars and beams from huge trees.
As the representative of the Association for Preserving Old Japanese Farmhouses,
Takishata-san is active in conveying to the younger generation and the world the Japanese
way of life based on living with traditional wooden architecture born of endemic Japanese
features.
When the tour of the house was over, the group was treated to a very special talk in a
large hall on Japanese byobu screens, about which Takishita-san is an expert. From the 100
or so screens he has preserved, he chose several to speak about in detail, which dated
from the 1600s to the end of the Edo era. Byobu screens were painted taking into
consideration a room's lighting conditions as affected by shoji paper doors and andon
lanterns in the evening.
Finally, we were served coffee and dessert made by Mrs Takishita while Takishita-san
carefully replied to the various questions of the group.
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