Decorative Structures

Minka - houses of the people

Until the middle of the twentieth century, most ordinary Japanese people - farmers, merchants, village elders - lived in wooden houses called minka. Wood is readily available in Japan, where some 60% of the land is forested. It was used to create a sturdy framework to carry the mud-plastered wall panels and a thatched roof. The structure was resistant to earthquake damage and easy to rebuild. In northern Japan, the houses were built with steep roofs and small windows to cope with the long snowy winters; in the hotter parts of southern Japan the minka were small low buildings with raised floors so that they were well ventilated and would resist typhoon damage. The few rooms inside the minka could be used in different ways, so the house could be a workplace as well as a home.

Minka houses became less popular in Japan during the latter half of the twentieth century, as they were rather inconvenient and uncomfortable. Many were demolished and replaced by modern houses with a lifespan of less than 30 years. The continual cycle of building and replacing these newer houses created vast quantities of industrial waste, in contrast to the minka houses whose components could either be reconstructed or used as fuel.

In 1997, the Japan Minka Re-use and Recycle Association (JMRA) was established to promote the benefits and conservation of minka houses. The minka house built in Kew's Bamboo Garden was brought here with their assistance and support.

The Minka House at Kew

Kew's Minka House was originally a farmhouse built around 1900 in a suburb of Okazaki City, near the southern coast of central Japan. The first owners sold the house to the Yonezu family in 1940 and it was dismantled and moved to another part of the city. After their main home was destroyed in a bombing raid, the Yonezu family moved into this minka in 1945. Mr Yonezu was a keen photographer and he took pictures of many of the family events and celebrations held in the house.

The house fell vacant in 1993, on the death of Mrs Chiyoku Yonezu, who was the last member of the family to live there. The Japan Minka Re-use and Recycle Association (JMRA) acquired the house and donated it to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew as part of the Japan 2001 Festival. After the minka had been dismantled, its wooden framework was shipped to the UK. Construction at Kew began on 7 May 2001, with experienced Japanese carpenters reinstating the intricate joints that are formed without the use of iron nails. When the framework was completed on 21 May 2001, a Japanese ceremory was held to mark the auspicious occasion. A team of British builders, who had previously worked on the Globe Theatre in London, then assembled the mud wall panels and thatched the roof with Norfolk reeds and wheat straw on a grid of bamboo laths. Work was completed in November 2001.