Travels with Ikuta-san in Chiba Prefecture

September 15-17 traveled in Chiba Prefecture with Shigeyuki IKUTA, secretariat of the Japan Straw Bale House Association.

Ikuta-san at "Love and Rice"

On September 15, collected data from Furyu, the straw bale cafe/gallery built last summer for Ikue MASADO (formally Saya TAKAGI).Ikuta-san and I spent the evening at "Love and Rice", an intentional community in 鴨川 (Kamogawa), Chiba Prefecture.Their motto is "Life is a Journey, not a destination". Fitting for a community that began as a collection of buses and vans.They're now in the process of building a home, and I was asked to consult and help with the production of abode.Inspired by a project in Norway called the Eco House, I've proposed the use of abode made of light-straw-clay. Light-straw-clay provides better insulation than traditional cob or adobe. It is also lighter than cob and traditional adobe, which may be more suitable for seismic zones. Light-straw-clay, having more organic matter (straw) than cob and adobe, is also more susceptible to moisture and decay, which will require greater attention to construction details. On September 16, we made test adobe of various sizes and compositions entirely from local materials within 1km.

Copped straw
Clay slip
Mix
Pack into a form
Dry

The width of the bricks was determined by the width of the framing members. Kamogawa has a heavy clay loam, suitable for light-straw-clay and rice cultivation.

On Septebmer 16, visited the construction site of a home being built using traditional Japanese timber-framing.

Construction drawing used by Japanese tiber-framers

Had lunch at 鴨川自然王国 (literally, Kamogawa Kingdom of Nature), a sustainability center, cafe, and working farm founded by Toshio FUJIMOTO, leader of the "student movement", a student antiwar movement in the 60's and 70's, who's noncompliance closed universities in Tokyo. Fujimoto spent a couple of years in prison as a result.

Passive solar design at Kamogawa Shizen Oukoku

In the afternoon, visited Riko HIRATA, a carpenter by trade, but spends most of her time farming. Returned to Fujisawa late Thursday night.

藍染 (Indigo dye)

Today we had an indigo dye workshop at the research center. Raw leaves were harvested at the research center and processed in a blender (500ml of water for every 50g of leaves). Then 5g of hydrated lime and 5g of Sodium hydrosulfite (Na2S2O4) were added for every 100ml of liquid processed indigo leaves. Apparently textiles of animal origin, such as wool and silk, don't require the hydrated lime and sodium hydrosulfite, but we were using cotton textiles. 500ml can dye approximately three handkerchiefs. Textiles are soaked in the mixture for 2-3 minutes, and then exposed to the air for 4-5 minutes. The process is repeated until the desired concentration of color is achieved. Textiles are then lightly washed in water and allowed to dry.

逗子

September 6 met with Dave of Namaiki, an artistic permaculture garden design team http://www.namaiki.com/. In the afternoon, met with Shunro Yoshida of Transition Japan http://www.transition-japan.net/. Transition Japan is a member of the international Transition Town movement, which helps to create sustainable communities in a world facing climate change and prospective energy shortages http://www.transitiontowns.org/.

September 2 traveled to Hokuto City（北杜）in Yamanashi Prefecture with Itonaga-sensei and members of BeGood Cafe. In the morning visited Egao-Tsunagete（えがおつなげて), an amazing NPO reviving rural communities through sustainable agriculture and forestry. In the afternoon visited the site where Amita Corporation plans on establishing their third forest dairy operation. In Kyotango(京丹後）in Kyoto Prefecture and Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture, Amita has established organic dairy cattle and forestry operations. Dairy cattle clear under brush and the timber is sold FSC certified.
September 3 traveled to Myokokogen (妙高高原）in Niigata Prefecture, near the Japan Sea. Installed temperature and relative humidity sensors in Mr. Genzo SUGIURA's （杉浦勇二さん）straw bale home known as Warishinoya（藁石の家)　http://blog.livedoor.jp/warayar9/. Warishinoya utilizes a "rain scree" to prevent rain and snow from direct contact with the straw bale and earthen plaster walls. I suspect rain screens would help reduce interstitial humidity levels in straw bale walls in Japan, but have no data to support that opinion. In one location, I installed three interstitial temperature and relative humidity sensors: one near the exterior plaster, one in the middle of the bale wall, and one near the interior plaster. I also measured straw moisture content at two different heights and various depths. Given that August and September are generally the months with the highest relative humidity within straw bale walls in Japan, Warishinoya had very low moisture content measurements.
September 4 traveled to Kobuchizawa in Yamanashi Prefecture and collected data from Waraya (藁舎). Have collected two full years of data and have decided to discontinue monitoring Waraya. Removed the sensors, packed up, and traveled to Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, near Mt. Fuji. Visited Earth Embassy http://www.earthembassy.org/, which includes a cafe, guesthouse, and organic farm run by Jake Reiner. I visited Earth Embassy seven years ago in August 2002. Jake also directs Eden Homes http://edenhomes.blogspot.com/, which renovates Japanese timber-framed homes with environmentally friendly materials.
Spent the night at Earth Embassy and returned to Fujisawa on September 5.

August 20-24 helped managed Shinobara-no-Sato (篠原の里) in Fujino, Kanagawa. Shinobara-no-Sato is a community center that Itonaga-sensei's research studio helped establish in 2002. Every summer students from Itonaga-sensei's research studio help manage the center. It hosts works shops and functions somewhat like a youth hostel. On August 23 was 大石神社祭典, a local, annual festival where the god that lives in Ohishi Shrine (大石神社) is taken for a walk around the village in an Omikoshi (御神輿) carried by the villagers. Functions somewhat as a blessing for the homes, farms, and people in the village. This is the third year I've had the opportunity to participate in the festival.August 26-29 attended the Architectural Institute of Japan's Annual Conference. The conference takes place in a different location in Japan every year, and this year the conference was held in Sendai in Northern Japan.定禅寺通　(Jozenji Dori) street in Sendai known for its tree canopy which shades the street below to combat the heat island effect of urban areas.まちなか農園藤坂 (Urban Farm Fujisaka) located in Sendai city strengthens the community through urban gardening.

旭川市 北海道

The interstitial temperature and relative humidity sensors are installed and recording data at Maiko and Toby's home in Higashikawa. Additional photos and updates on construction can be found on Toby's blog:
http://maikotobybomber.blogspot.com/
Had dinner at Mr. Jinnouchi's straw bale home on August 16th. Mr. Jinnouchi runs a NPO involved with forestry in Hokkaido.
Returned to Fujisawa on August 17th.

Soil Testing and Bennu Gallery

Currently staying with Kate and Stefan in 三河町 (Mikawa-cho) in Hokkaido. Kate is a potter and also teaches pottery. Together they run Bennu Gallery and Cafe, which sells import items in addition to Kate's pottery. Stefan plastered the earthen walls of the cafe and gallery.
Freshly baked scones by Shizuka-san.
Mika-san, who is also staying with Kate and Stefan for a few days, makes clothes and accessories entirely from discarded pieces of fabric, etc. For example, the skirt she's wearing in the photo above uses a large shirt for pant legs. She and four other women are operating an urban ecological and spritual center in Sapporo called Tanepotani, which means in the Ainu language, "Now, Here". She's an amazing woman with great fashion sense. Refuses to purchase a cell phone. Doesn't use email. Very admirable.
Mural painted with latex paint by Stefan.
Yesterday Stefan and I ran tests on a number of different soils trying to determine which would work best for Toby and Maiko's plaster. Photos taken before and after drying

Straw Bale in Asahikawa, Hokkaido

On August 7th, I flew to Asahikawa, Hokkaido to help with the construction of Maiko and Toby Weymiller's straw bale home <http://maikotobybomber.blogspot.com>. Construction and plastering of the straw bale walls is being lead by Stefan Bell, a jack of all trades and master of many, including juggling <http://web.mac.com/thegreatballini/iWeb/theGreatBallini-English%20Homepage/Juggling%20%26%20Building%20Houses.html>. Stefan built straw bale homes in the south west for eight years, including the home featured in the book/DVD "Building with Awareness" <http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/>.

Cutting straw bales with chain saws to fit around structural members.

I installed nine interstitial temperature and relative humidity sensors in the north wall of the Maiko and Toby's straw bale house. Three sensors were installed in the lowest course of bales on top of the stem wall, three at mid-height, and three in the top course of bales. Each set of three consists of a sensor near the interior, one in the middle of the bale, and one near the exterior.

On August 8th there was a traditional Shinto purification ceremony for the home. Three videos are available on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbEAkP5R-rw&feature=related

Straw bale alter

After the ceremony, there was mochi-maki. Mochi is glutinous rice pounded into a dough, eaten sweet or savory. Maki means to scatter. During Mochi-maki, mochi are thrown to a crowd of people below.

Flute music recorded at a Shinto shrine in Asahikawa on August 11th at 7am

On August 12th Stefan and I visited Yonezawa Brick Company (米澤煉瓦株式会社）in Ebetsu City, Hokkaido. The purpose of our visit was to obtain clay for Maiko and Toby's straw bale home.

Brick Kiln

Today, August 13th, we'll experiment with the clay to see if it will be suitable for plastering straw bales.

Statue of Liberty

August 6th visited the statue of liberty


in Odaiba, Tokyo with teachers participating in the Toshiba Youth Conference for a Sustainable Future 2009.

大山千米田

August 1st through the 7th, working as a staff member at Toshiba Youth Conference for a Sustainable Future 2009, sponsored by Toshiba and organized by BeGood Cafe, the event organizer that organizes the International Ecovillage Conference in Tokyo each year. As a part of the Youth Conference, high school students and teachers from Thailand, Poland, the US, and Japan gather for one week to discuss environmental issues. This years theme is "Halve CO2 Emissions by 2050 - Achieving the Best Mix of Energy Resources". Today we visited the former residence of Mikio Mizuta (1905-1976), founder of Josai International University and Japanese ｐolitician. The residence was built 150 years ago and is a well preserved example of Edo era architecture. We then visited 大山千米田 Oyamasenmaida in Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture. Oyamasenmaida consists of roughly 250 terraced rice paddies (pictured above).