What we care about
“Doesn’t our grandparents’ world sound like fun?”
Working the field until you are damp with sweat. Splitting firewood against the winter. At noon, ravenous, rice cooked in an iron pot and pickles from the bran crock. A treat now and then is an egg the hens have laid. Father’s pleasures are the local festival and a drink. Mother’s are sweet buns and gossip at the well. At dusk, when the children are home, you wash the day off in a wooden bath and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Lovely, isn’t it? That is what we found ourselves longing for, and Kuromamesan is what we built together with the grandmothers who knew how.
Kitchen
A kitchen everyone can cook in. One sink is set at wheelchair height, and meals here are made together, noisily.
Living room
Warm timber throughout, open to the roof above. The high ceiling makes the whole room feel like a long breath.
Earthen floor & kamado
We rebuilt the earthen-floored room every old house once had. Rice from the kamado comes out plump and sweet in a way nothing else manages.
Wood stove
On cold days everyone gathers in front of the stove, feeding it logs and settling in.
Bath
A tub of natural Aomori hiba cypress, in a room lined with Towada stone.
Bathrooms
Five of them, in different sizes and layouts, each worked out so that anyone can use it comfortably.
Covered outdoor area
For working the field, or stopping for tea. Neighbours sometimes borrow it for a barbecue.
Kuromamesan FARM
The grounds are wide enough for seasonal vegetables and freshly laid eggs.
