Minka : my farmhouse in Japan / John Roderick.
2008
NA7451 .R63 2008eb
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Details
Title
Minka : my farmhouse in Japan / John Roderick.
Author
Roderick, John.
Edition
1st ed.
ISBN
9781568989624 (electronic book)
1568989628 (electronic book)
9781568987316
1568987315
1568989628 (electronic book)
9781568987316
1568987315
Publication Details
New York : Princeton Architectural Press, ©2008.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (255 pages) : illustrations
Call Number
NA7451 .R63 2008eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
728/.370952
Summary
"In 1959 journalist John Roderick joined the Tokyo bureau of the Associated Press. There, he befriended a Japanese family, the Takishitas. After musing offhandedly that he would like to one day have his own house in Japan, the family - unbeknownst to John - set out to grant his wish. They found Roderick a 250-year-old minka, or hand-built farmhouse, with a thatched roof and held together entirely by wooden pegs and joinery. It was about to be washed away by flooding and was being offered for only fourteen dollars. Roderick graciously bought the house, but was privately dismayed at the prospect of living in this enormous old relic lacking heating, bathing, plumbing, and proper kitchen facilities. So the minka was dismantled and stored, where Roderick secretly hoped it would stay, as it did for years." "But Roderick's reverence for natural materials and his appreciation of traditional Japanese and Shinto crafsmanship eventually got the better of him. Before long, carpenters were hoisting massive beams, laying wide wooden floors, and attaching the split-bamboo ceiling. In just forty days they rebuilt the house on a hill overlooking Kamakura, the ancient capital of Japan. Working together they renovated the farmhouse, adding features such as floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors and a modern kitchen, bath, and toilet." "John Roderick's architectural memoir Minka tells the compelling and often poignant story of how one man fell in love with the people, culture, and ancient building traditions of Japan, and reminds us all about the importance of craftsmanship and the meaning of place and home in the process."--Jacket.
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Minka.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Book One
A Breakfast to Remember
Chaucer, Yochan, and Me
Year of the Rat
The Great Peak
A Bad Oyster
Tin!
Honorable Daikusan
Spider Men
Orgies and Chamber Music
A Loveable American
Book Two
Feel Poor!
White Ants
The Evil Eye
The Spoons
Yochan
Fences
Life of the Party
Minkas Domestic
Gardens, Stones, and Buddhas
Minkas Foreign
East Gallery
Poppy and the Queens
Hillary and the Abbot
Epilogue.
Book One
A Breakfast to Remember
Chaucer, Yochan, and Me
Year of the Rat
The Great Peak
A Bad Oyster
Tin!
Honorable Daikusan
Spider Men
Orgies and Chamber Music
A Loveable American
Book Two
Feel Poor!
White Ants
The Evil Eye
The Spoons
Yochan
Fences
Life of the Party
Minkas Domestic
Gardens, Stones, and Buddhas
Minkas Foreign
East Gallery
Poppy and the Queens
Hillary and the Abbot
Epilogue.