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Book Review
Japanese
Country Style
-Putting New Life into Old Houses
Yoshihiro
Takishita / Kodansha International
Japanese
Country Style introduces sixteen unique and sumptuous homes rescued
by Takishita and illustrates how his renovations rejuvenated these
all-but-forgotten architectural gems. Takishita candidly discusses
the thoughts and inspirations that lead him to adapt and convert
these centuries-old farmhouses for modern living. Chapters on
their unique history and construction demonstrate the value of
these towering traditional homes, and illustrate their place in
Japanese rural life, where several generations often lived under
the same roof that allowed for a horse in the stable area and
silkworms in the attic.
Japanese Country Style also showcases the artful blending of tradition
Japanese elements for modern lifestyles. Tatami rooms, Japanese
antiques,traditional wooden furniture, and other treasures fill
the rooms of thesehomes, and evoke the understated elegance of
country-style living. Withover 200 photographs and illustrations
of beautifully refurbished folk homes, this volume presents a
portrait of a sublime yet simple way of life that will give anyone
interested in design and architecture a host it useful ideas.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORK
"For the past [35 years], Mr. Takishita has dominated what
is probably the tiniest housing niche in Japan--the buying, selling
and moving of the evocative minka, or farmhouse."
--Wall
Street Journal
"It's unique in America and perhaps the world--the only time
that three historical minka Japanese farmhouses have been combined
to form one residential dwelling."
--Honolulu
Star-Bulletin
"Step inside and you walk into the best of a Japan of bygone
days--the same giant beams, blackened with age ...and black floorboards
with two centuries of walking and wounds underfoot."
--Mainichi
Daily News
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