HANARé

17/08/2026

Saihoji in midsummer…expecting the garden to have passed its spring peak after weeks of Kyoto heat. Yet quite the opposite: even under the harsh sun, it remained strikingly green and very much alive.

The temple offered another way of seeing it: summer is not necessarily a hardship for moss. It simply slows down, withdrawing into stillness until the rain returns. Rather than being constantly watered to preserve an ideal of lushness, the garden is largely left to itself.

The moss dries, revives and adapts, growing more resilient to Kyoto’s intensifying summers, heavy rains and typhoons. We’ve visited Saihoji at different times and also looked for it at its most saturated and deep green during the rainy season, but in August, it reveals something else: not dormancy, but endurance…..Nature is teaching us yet another lesson !

Saihoji, Kyoto. August.

16/08/2026

One of our favourite features of old Kyoto machiya is the hibukuro (火袋), the tall open space traditionally found above the cooking area.

The kitchen formed part of the tōriniwa (通り庭), the long earthen passage running through the machiya. Above it, the hibukuro allowed heat and smoke from cooking to rise towards the roof, while bringing light and air into the darker parts of these long, narrow houses.

This one is unusually large. The house was once part of a much larger estate which, through successive generations and inheritances, was gradually divided into smaller properties. What remained here was the original kitchen and its oversized hibukuro, a little reminder of the scale of the house that once surrounded it. When we renovated this machiya, we decided to keep the space completely open and build the new kitchen below it.

It’s a simple idea, but one we love: keeping the original volume of the house and finding a new use for it, rather than trying to recreate the past. And the light from above is quite magical.

Image from IYEYA Inc. | いえ屋

02/06/2026

19/02/2026

A long held aspirations has been to find a home that not only ticks all our boxes, but also includes a kura (蔵).

Traditionally built as fire resistant storehouses, Kuras in their present date back to the Edo period when urbanization accelerated and were used to protect a family’s most valuable possessions, rice, documents, and heirlooms from natural disasters. Their thick earthen walls, minimal openings, and carefully sealed construction created an environment designed for protection rather than comfort.

This makes them remarkably resilient, but also notoriously difficult to renovate. Their airtight structure, heavy walls, and limited natural light mean they cannot easily be adapted into conventional living spaces without compromising their integrity. In many ways, a kura remains true to its original purpose, a place of safekeeping.

To us, the presence of a kura adds something rare and deeply meaningful, a quiet reminder of the permanence, care, and continuity that define Japan’s architectural heritage….

28/01/2026

Nearing completion on our latest Shijo Kawaramachi project.
A classic kyomachiya built in the late Meiji era.
Very excited to offer this new house to travelers visiting Kyoto in just a few weeks.

06/12/2025

The simple nobedan, as a quiet transition from the outside world into the home, passing through the doma, kept intentionally simple to complement the pathway.
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#延段 #土間 #土間仕上げ #石畳