March 6-8 and 17-21 built the plastered straw bale interior of a store that will sell organic produce and fair trade goods. The name of the store is お陰様市場(okagesama-ichiba), which means something like "Thanksgiving Market". The store will function as another aspect of Cafe Slow, an organic cafe in Tokyo that acts as a hub for several environmental and social movements, both domestic and international. In May of 2008, I led the construction of Cafe Slow's straw bale interior. Both the May, 2008 Cafe Slow building project and this project are renovations of existing buildings.
March 6-7 we hosted a straw bale raising workshop. The plastered bales are used mainly aesthetically as opposed to structurally. March 17-19 we hosted a small plastering workshop.
March 20 and 21 applied the finish plaster.
The floor was plastered by a professional plasterer in Tokyo. For further details and photos, please see the Cafe Slow blog
February 20 and 22 participated in a two day sustainability conference sponsored by Nihon University. Day one of the conference was held at the Bioresource Sciences College in Fujisawa, Kanagawa and the second day was held at the Engineering College in Koriyama, Fukushiama.The first day included a tour of our research center.The second day the Engineering College introduced their research in sustainable building.
February 9-19, lead a straw bale workshop in Yufuin, Oita Prefecture. ムラづくり風の原っぱ (abbrev. Harappa), an NPO working to revitalize the local community, is renovating a cafe using straw bales as an element of the interior.
2月10日から18日までの9日間、大分県湯布院にある「ムラづくりNPO風の原っぱ」という特定非営利活動法人がストローベイルワークショップを主催しました。既存の店舗をリフォームし、ストローベイルと珪藻土でカフェの内装を作りました。4年前原っぱを設立したのは地元の浦田龍次さんです。浦田さんは長年平和運動に参加し、自然が大好きな方です。原っぱは主に「食」と「農」を切っ掛けにして、人と人や人と自然を繋げる団体です。例えば、10反の面積の田圃で地元の農家さんと一緒に合鴨農法をしています。「カフェが完成したら、調理教室などを開きたい。」と浦田さんは夢を膨らませていらっしゃいました。そのため、原っぱカフェのキッチンはかなり広いです。この原っぱカフェは4月にオープンする予定です。
Yufuin is famous for its hot springs. Snow accumulated on the wall surrounding the outdoor bath.
Harappa is involved in an array of agricultural, social and ecological activities. For example, they promote 合鴨農法 (Aigamo-nouhou), which integrates ducks into organic rice cultivation. The paddling action of the ducks prevents weeds from taking root, the ducks eat weeds and insects, and the manure from the ducks becomes fertilizer for the rice.
私は3月9日（火）午後、原っぱカフェを設計した大岩剛一先生と一緒に湯布院に到着し、夜遅くまでワークショップの準備をしました。10日にワークショップが開かれて、夜に「スローなカフェが地域をつなぎなおす」いうシンポジウム、交流会が行われ、カフェスローの吉岡淳さんと大岩先生の発表がありました。とても面白かったです。
The workshop participants were wonderful
All ages
Visitors from Korea
Cutting Straw
And the food was great! Yasu-san's wood-fired pizza oven
The straw bales are plastered with 珪藻土 (Keisoudo), an earthen plaster containing diatomaceous earth and some cement/lime based and/or other pozzolanic ingredients. When examined under a microscope, one can see that keisou, which consists of diatoms, is very porous, which enables Keisoudo to modify interior humidity. Unlike earthen plastered straw bale walls, which will take days, if not weeks, to dry and harden, Keisoudo begins to harden the same day. Keisoudo will also be used to finish the floor as well.
そして、10日から12日はベイルを積みました。ニードルを使ってベイルを割ったり、竹のくいを作ってベイルを固定したりという作業もありました。13日からは左官工事に入り、日本ケイソウド株式会社が生産しているエコクエーンという珪藻土を使いました。作業はそれぞれが、わらを刻んだり、土を作ったり、土団子を作ったり、土を壁に塗ったりと、壁を塗るために様々な作業が発生します。皆がそれぞれに自分にあった持ち場を選んだり、任されて楽しくなったり、壁を塗ってみてどんな土を作ったらよいか分かって来たりと皆さん楽しく作業をされてました。何より、地域の方々が見学やお手伝いに来られたりと、早速、人と人が繋がる場としても和気藹々と賑わっていました。
February 2-6th, lead a straw bale workshop in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture (福島県飯舘村). Iitate received a grant from Japan's Ministry of the Environment to build a model ecological home. Iitate employed Permaculture Center Japan, represented by Koji Itonaga, Takahiro Yamada, Sachie Fujishima, and Kenji Uragami to create the overall design and build specific elements. In turn, a local architect, Yoshiyuki Toyota, and local construction company, Komatsu Construction Company, were hired. The west wall of a detached studio was built with straw bales. Workshop participants consisted mainly of Nihon University students.The interior is plastered with earth and will be finished with lime plaster.The soil used in the plaster was recycled from the earthen plastered walls of an old home. Who knows how many centuries this soil has been used as a plaster?For the base coat, the soil was mixed with cut straw. The exterior is finished with wood siding. I installed a series of temperature and relative humidity senors in the wall in order to determine the effect of an exterior rain screen on the interstitial hygrothermal environment.
January 31 particpated in a 土作り (Tsuchizukuri) workshop in Fujino, Kanagawa Prefecture. A cohousing complex utilizing natural building materials is being built for four families. The architect is Takahiro Yamada, principle architect of BioForms, an ecological design firm. Yamada-sensei also teaches at Nihon University and Permaculture Center Japan. The cohousing complex features a timber frame, bamboo and earthen plaster on the interior, wool insulation, and wood siding on the exterior. A series of workshops are being held in conjunction with the construction of the building. The workshop I attended involved preparing the earthen plaster. Kyuji Katsumata, a reknowned plasterer based in Tokyo, lead the workshop.Suitable soil from Saitama Prefecture was brought to the sight, mixed with water, and kneaded. Straw was cut in to 5cm lenths using a large engine driven mulcher/chipper.Equal amounts by volume of straw and mud were mixed by foot.A shallow trough was dug in the top of the piles of mud and filled with water. The pilles were covered and left to ferment for half a year before being used. A blog describing the project can be found at http://blog.canpan.info/nagaya
The evening of December 27, stayed with Stefan Bell in Taos, NM. Stefan and Kate, who live in Mikawa, Hokkaido, are renovating a century old adobe home in Taos. Everything is custom built. For a beautiful earthen plaster finish, Stefan says that three things are needed: the right mix, the right temperature, and time.
December 27-29, drove from Phoenix, AZ to Madison, WI. On December 27, visited Ginna's straw bale home in Santa Fe, NM. Stefan Bell, who built the straw bale walls of Toby and Maiko's home in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, led the construction of Ginna's home.
November 28 and 29 worked as a translator for Ben Nakamura and Associates Inc. (中村勉総合計画事務所). Prof. Nakamura was nominated by the Architectural Institute of Japan for an eco-architecture award sponsored by an organization in Singapore.
November 30 presented at the Center for Environmental Information Science Annual Conference in Tokyo.
November 21 and 23 participated in a "handmade wood burning stove workshop" (手づくり薪ストーブワークショップ) taught by Takahashi-san, a artisan blacksmith/welder who lives in Fujino.
cut, bend, and weld rebar base
cut and fold metal wrap
fill metal wrap with firebrick
steel shield to interrupt flow of gases and reflect heat
assemble parts, drill and rivet.
total cost of materials for a functional stove with cooking surface on top: $160
On the way to the workshop, met Sawanishi-san, alias "Kosho" and other graduates of Permaculture Center Japan.Straw bales removed and replaced with a traditional Japanese bamboo lattice and earthen plaster.
Received a ticket from Itonaga-sensei to attend 未来ビレッジサミット, an ecovillage conference of sorts, on November 22.
November 18 and 19 was in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, working on a Straw-Clay Block Test Wall using blocks made a month ago.Jinnouchi-san and Noda-san inspecting the test wall.Kyle testing the strength of the blocks. We now have a blog for the light straw clay project: 自然の家づくり職人ネット.Before returning to Fujisawa on the 19, visited Toby at "Square One".
In May of 2008, I led the construction of Cafe Slow's straw bale interior. Both the May, 2008 Cafe Slow building project and this project are renovations of existing buildings. 
March 6-7 we hosted a straw bale raising workshop. The plastered bales are used mainly aesthetically as opposed to structurally. 
March 17-19 we hosted a small plastering workshop.
March 20 and 21 applied the finish plaster.
The floor was plastered by a professional plasterer in Tokyo. For further details and photos, please see the Cafe Slow blog
