WEBVTT

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I always wanted to have

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our own house.

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When I met John

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he was the first
foreigner

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I ever met in my life.

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He was working for the

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Associated Press.

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He was a foreign
correspondent.

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He was writing a lot
about Japan

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and about China.

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One day we heard

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that an old farmhouse

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was about to be
destroyed.

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When we got there,

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it's like being sent
by time machine

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back to 18th century.

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John and I fell in love

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with this farmhouse
at the first sight.

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Japanese farmhouses

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are dark.

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Gradually you
can start seeing.

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I've never seen
crossbeams like that.

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Wow, very spacious and

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very high ceiling.

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"Oh, this is great!",
I thought.

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It's just instinct.

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The aroma of this house

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was beautiful.

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Smell of the earth,

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smell of the wood,

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smell of the smoke,

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a little bit.

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I felt life,
very healthy life,

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being led in that space.

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I said: "We

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should get this
farmhouse and

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transport it to somewhere

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and we can build
our own home."

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Now, when I look at

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these photographs,

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definitely it's not
yesterday.

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It's --
It's long ago.

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In the beginning I said:

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"Let's talk for two days
Japanese and

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for two days English."

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As we got exited

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we always ended up

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talking English.

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This is an old AP office.

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He started to work
here since 1959.

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And he had little

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mustache and

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he always enjoyed

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a good cigar.

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He didn't know much
about the countryside

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of Japan.

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So I took him to Gifu

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where my family is.

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He became like a member

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of our family

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and he adopted me

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as his son.

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We got the house.

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But no land.

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So we looked, looked

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and looked.

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It was either too far
away

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for him to commute
to AP office in Tokyo,

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or too expensive.

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We came up the hill.

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We saw this view
of the ocean.

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Breathtaking!

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We must buy
this property.

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Moving old farmhouse

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to come Kamakura

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was a big undertaking.

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This long beam is about

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50 feet long.

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One piece of the wood.

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As we come to the curve

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we moved the wood

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and we gradually,
gradually

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came up here.

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John was very popular

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amongst not only

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carpenters,
but everybody.

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And he made the people
always laugh

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within his limited
Japanese.

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It was a very
exiting time.

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You see the formation

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of the roof beams

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in this form
of prayer's hands.

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In Buddhism
we pray like this.

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When the roof
is completed

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we celebrate.

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And the whole idea is to
ask God to descend

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on this new house to
protect the house,

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family,

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and always with salt
and saké

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for the sake
of this happy

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house: Kampai.
Everyone drinks.

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Every day was
a happy occasion.

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We completed the house

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in June of 1967.

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So 41 years we
have been living here.

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Minka has a space

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which is mysterious.

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People come and

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they don't leave.

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We are close to nature

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in Minka architecture,

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I think.

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Large post and beams.

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And we feel secured.

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I think,
this Minka brought him

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a peace of mind

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in a way that this is

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his own home

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and I'm here.

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Before coming here

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he was ready to go
to any part of the world

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at any time when
AP head office says.

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As the time went by,
I think,

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that this Minka made

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him stay in Tokyo office.

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He settled here.

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Can you see?

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John loved the people

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and the story,

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stories about them.

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So this is a perfect
place for

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John to interview people.

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Both private or public,

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or whatever.

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Hmm.

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He always liked red wine.

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Big bottle.

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He consumed sometimes
many.

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Many empty bottles.

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Oh gosh.

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It's a short poem wishing

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the house
doesn't catch fire.

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Good day of June,
1734.

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When I did this -

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John's Minka -

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I was not thinking of

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becoming an architect,
yet,

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at that time.

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Later,

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I got clients for

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this type
of architecture.

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When I see really good
houses

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and when I fall in love

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with this Minka

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I get this house
dismantled

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and store
it in my storage

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for someone
who might say,

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"I need a Minka."

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Over here

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is my graveyard.

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Not mine,
but Minka's graveyard,

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for Minkas.

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One day they
will turn into earth.

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The world of wood

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when they are standing

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and when they are
standing

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at the end as a house

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and laying here
to be buried.

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Like many things

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there is always End
of Life

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and they have just
about to finish it.

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This is an important

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photograph I took,

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as I said the farewell

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goodbye to John.

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And I always thought

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he was smiling at me.

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But when I enlarged

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this photo
and when I looked

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at him very carfully

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I could see in his eyes

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something much deeper.

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Every time I come here

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to this room I greet him.

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And I say,
"[speaking Japanese],

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I'm here, back at home."