0:00:04.360,0:00:19.770
I always wanted to have

0:00:20.300,0:00:21.760
our own house.

0:00:21.760,0:00:29.640
When I met John

0:00:29.640,0:00:57.800
he was the first[br]foreigner

0:00:57.800,0:00:59.130
I ever met in my life.

0:00:59.930,0:01:01.630
He was working for the

0:01:01.630,0:01:02.900
Associated Press.

0:01:02.900,0:01:04.440
He was a foreign[br]correspondent.

0:01:07.070,0:01:09.370
He was writing a lot[br]about Japan

0:01:09.370,0:01:10.450
and about China.

0:01:21.330,0:01:23.370
One day we heard

0:01:23.370,0:01:25.480
that an old farmhouse

0:01:26.120,0:01:28.020
was about to be[br]destroyed.

0:01:30.730,0:01:32.050
When we got there,

0:01:32.050,0:01:35.180
it's like being sent[br]by time machine

0:01:35.180,0:01:36.540
back to 18th century.

0:01:40.130,0:01:42.090
John and I fell in love

0:01:42.090,0:01:44.270
with this farmhouse[br]at the first sight.

0:01:47.580,0:01:49.270
Japanese farmhouses

0:01:49.270,0:01:50.520
are dark.

0:01:53.530,0:01:55.230
Gradually you[br]can start seeing.

0:01:58.000,0:02:00.820
I've never seen[br]crossbeams like that.

0:02:01.560,0:02:03.940
Wow, very spacious and

0:02:03.940,0:02:05.230
very high ceiling.

0:02:07.930,0:02:09.639
"Oh, this is great!",[br]I thought.

0:02:09.639,0:02:10.880
It's just instinct.

0:02:10.880,0:02:13.450
The aroma of this house

0:02:13.450,0:02:14.720
was beautiful.

0:02:14.720,0:02:16.040
Smell of the earth,

0:02:16.040,0:02:17.100
smell of the wood,

0:02:17.100,0:02:18.110
smell of the smoke,

0:02:18.110,0:02:19.470
a little bit.

0:02:19.470,0:02:22.190
I felt life,[br]very healthy life,

0:02:22.190,0:02:23.940
being led in that space.

0:02:26.710,0:02:28.020
I said: "We

0:02:28.020,0:02:29.460
should get this[br]farmhouse and

0:02:29.460,0:02:31.400
transport it to somewhere

0:02:31.400,0:02:33.290
and we can build[br]our own home."

0:02:48.930,0:02:50.540
Now, when I look at

0:02:50.540,0:02:51.960
these photographs,

0:02:52.690,0:02:54.700
definitely it's not[br]yesterday.

0:02:56.220,0:02:58.210
It's --[br]It's long ago.

0:03:01.770,0:03:13.680
In the beginning I said:

0:03:13.680,0:03:15.700
"Let's talk for two days[br]Japanese and

0:03:15.700,0:03:16.940
for two days English."

0:03:16.940,0:03:18.110
As we got exited

0:03:18.110,0:03:19.270
we always ended up

0:03:20.220,0:03:21.420
talking English.

0:03:23.990,0:03:27.440
This is an old AP office.

0:03:27.440,0:03:30.410
He started to work[br]here since 1959.

0:03:31.200,0:03:32.570
And he had little

0:03:32.570,0:03:33.790
mustache and

0:03:33.790,0:03:35.430
he always enjoyed

0:03:35.430,0:03:36.900
a good cigar.

0:03:41.660,0:03:44.150
He didn't know much[br]about the countryside

0:03:44.150,0:03:45.400
of Japan.

0:03:46.620,0:03:49.600
So I took him to Gifu

0:03:49.600,0:03:51.150
where my family is.

0:03:52.440,0:03:53.840
He became like a member

0:03:53.840,0:03:54.990
of our family

0:03:55.600,0:03:57.820
and he adopted me

0:03:58.500,0:03:59.750
as his son.

0:04:13.220,0:04:16.269
We got the house.

0:04:16.269,0:04:17.740
But no land.

0:04:17.740,0:04:20.360
So we looked, looked

0:04:20.360,0:04:21.730
and looked.

0:04:21.730,0:04:23.070
It was either too far[br]away

0:04:23.070,0:04:26.220
for him to commute[br]to AP office in Tokyo,

0:04:26.220,0:04:27.540
or too expensive.

0:04:28.750,0:04:30.690
We came up the hill.

0:04:30.690,0:04:32.360
We saw this view[br]of the ocean.

0:04:33.940,0:04:35.190
Breathtaking!

0:04:36.180,0:04:37.560
We must buy[br]this property.

0:04:44.640,0:04:46.400
Moving old farmhouse

0:04:46.400,0:04:47.480
to come Kamakura

0:04:47.480,0:04:48.790
was a big undertaking.

0:04:51.410,0:04:54.060
This long beam is about

0:04:54.590,0:04:55.850
50 feet long.

0:04:56.370,0:04:57.770
One piece of the wood.

0:04:59.270,0:05:00.390
As we come to the curve

0:05:00.390,0:05:02.340
we moved the wood

0:05:02.340,0:05:04.030
and we gradually,[br]gradually

0:05:04.030,0:05:05.280
came up here.

0:05:16.350,0:05:17.410
John was very popular

0:05:17.410,0:05:18.750
amongst not only

0:05:18.750,0:05:20.420
carpenters,[br]but everybody.

0:05:21.700,0:05:23.740
And he made the people[br]always laugh

0:05:23.740,0:05:25.640
within his limited[br]Japanese.

0:05:27.850,0:05:29.570
It was a very[br]exiting time.

0:05:41.890,0:05:43.480
You see the formation

0:05:43.480,0:05:44.650
of the roof beams

0:05:44.650,0:05:47.780
in this form[br]of prayer's hands.

0:05:49.590,0:05:51.510
In Buddhism[br]we pray like this.

0:05:57.180,0:05:58.500
When the roof[br]is completed

0:05:58.500,0:05:59.750
we celebrate.

0:06:00.580,0:06:04.740
And the whole idea is to[br]ask God to descend

0:06:04.740,0:06:08.170
on this new house to[br]protect the house,

0:06:09.230,0:06:10.480
family,

0:06:13.420,0:06:16.170
and always with salt[br]and saké

0:06:16.170,0:06:17.980
for the sake[br]of this happy

0:06:17.980,0:06:19.810
house: Kampai.[br]Everyone drinks.

0:06:23.070,0:06:24.830
Every day was[br]a happy occasion.

0:06:25.710,0:06:43.470
We completed the house

0:06:43.470,0:06:45.560
in June of 1967.

0:06:46.350,0:06:48.620
So 41 years we[br]have been living here.

0:06:54.000,0:06:55.380
Minka has a space

0:06:55.380,0:06:57.600
which is mysterious.

0:06:58.160,0:06:59.230
People come and

0:06:59.230,0:07:00.600
they don't leave.

0:07:06.110,0:07:07.830
We are close to nature

0:07:07.830,0:07:09.100
in Minka architecture,

0:07:09.100,0:07:10.350
I think.

0:07:17.480,0:07:19.010
Large post and beams.

0:07:21.050,0:07:22.740
And we feel secured.

0:07:42.770,0:07:45.820
I think,[br]this Minka brought him

0:07:45.820,0:07:47.410
a peace of mind

0:07:47.410,0:07:49.710
in a way that this is

0:07:49.710,0:07:51.020
his own home

0:07:51.760,0:07:54.140
and I'm here.

0:07:58.690,0:07:59.930
Before coming here

0:07:59.930,0:08:02.210
he was ready to go[br]to any part of the world

0:08:02.210,0:08:05.160
at any time when[br]AP head office says.

0:08:07.650,0:08:09.020
As the time went by,[br]I think,

0:08:09.020,0:08:10.820
that this Minka made

0:08:10.820,0:08:12.850
him stay in Tokyo office.

0:08:13.630,0:08:14.790
He settled here.

0:08:22.760,0:08:31.550
Can you see?

0:08:43.150,0:08:45.200
John loved the people

0:08:45.200,0:08:46.500
and the story,

0:08:46.500,0:08:47.950
stories about them.

0:08:49.010,0:08:51.700
So this is a perfect[br]place for

0:08:54.790,0:08:56.990
John to interview people.

0:08:56.990,0:08:58.500
Both private or public,

0:08:58.500,0:08:59.800
or whatever.

0:08:59.800,0:09:01.050
Hmm.

0:09:05.590,0:09:08.150
He always liked red wine.

0:09:08.150,0:09:09.520
Big bottle.

0:09:09.520,0:09:11.390
He consumed sometimes[br]many.

0:09:12.760,0:09:14.250
Many empty bottles.

0:09:17.000,0:09:18.250
Oh gosh.

0:09:22.610,0:09:34.510
It's a short poem wishing

0:09:34.510,0:09:35.880
the house[br]doesn't catch fire.

0:09:40.150,0:09:43.430
Good day of June,[br]1734.

0:10:10.200,0:10:11.630
When I did this -

0:10:11.630,0:10:13.130
John's Minka -

0:10:13.130,0:10:14.340
I was not thinking of

0:10:14.340,0:10:16.680
becoming an architect,[br]yet,

0:10:16.680,0:10:18.200
at that time.

0:10:18.200,0:10:19.670
Later,

0:10:19.670,0:10:21.510
I got clients for

0:10:21.510,0:10:23.130
this type[br]of architecture.

0:11:23.470,0:11:25.880
When I see really good[br]houses

0:11:25.880,0:11:26.980
and when I fall in love

0:11:26.980,0:11:28.110
with this Minka

0:11:28.110,0:11:30.170
I get this house[br]dismantled

0:11:30.170,0:11:32.410
and store[br]it in my storage

0:11:32.410,0:11:35.040
for someone[br]who might say,

0:11:35.040,0:11:36.230
"I need a Minka."

0:12:07.960,0:12:13.380
Over here

0:12:13.380,0:12:14.860
is my graveyard.

0:12:14.860,0:12:17.460
Not mine,[br]but Minka's graveyard,

0:12:17.460,0:12:19.170
for Minkas.

0:12:21.780,0:12:24.010
One day they[br]will turn into earth.

0:12:34.130,0:12:36.550
The world of wood

0:12:36.550,0:12:38.250
when they are standing

0:12:38.770,0:12:42.840
and when they are[br]standing

0:12:42.840,0:12:45.250
at the end as a house

0:12:47.170,0:12:50.000
and laying here[br]to be buried.

0:12:52.790,0:12:54.910
Like many things

0:12:54.910,0:12:58.170
there is always End[br]of Life

0:12:58.760,0:13:01.610
and they have just[br]about to finish it.

0:13:46.340,0:13:54.410
This is an important

0:13:54.410,0:13:55.840
photograph I took,

0:13:55.840,0:13:57.000
as I said the farewell

0:13:57.000,0:13:58.340
goodbye to John.

0:13:58.340,0:13:59.830
And I always thought

0:14:00.860,0:14:02.360
he was smiling at me.

0:14:03.910,0:14:05.320
But when I enlarged

0:14:05.320,0:14:07.030
this photo[br]and when I looked

0:14:07.030,0:14:09.070
at him very carfully

0:14:10.910,0:14:13.080
I could see in his eyes

0:14:13.080,0:14:16.680
something much deeper.

0:14:21.630,0:14:22.950
Every time I come here

0:14:22.950,0:14:24.830
to this room I greet him.

0:14:25.520,0:14:27.750
And I say,[br]"[speaking Japanese],

0:14:27.750,0:15:37.350
I'm here, back at home."