http://www.earthembassy.org Earth Embassy Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:31:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 日本語   The Engawa is a hallway that runs along the south side  of traditional homes to completely open the home. It allows light into the house, air flow, and a place to sit and enjoy the view. See house details and pricing at….   Shojiko High Village House http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/engawa-%e7%b8%81%e5%81%b4/ 日本語    The Oni ridge cap on classic Japanese houses is more than ornamental.  They act like gargoyles to keep away bad spirits and protect the home.  In these restoration photos you can see the original thatched roof under the steel roof which provides 30 inches of insulation.  We also added ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/oni/ Free trade is bringing us cheap products from around the world and allowing diverse economies to interact with each area drawing on their own specialities.  But it is not really free when you consider the fuel cost and CO2 production involved in trans-oceanic shipping.  Take pickles; cucumbers grown in China ... http://www.earthembassy.org/uncategorized/wind-powered-shipping/ Why spend millions and build a ship that can be sunk by an iceberg when you can just sail the iceberg itself? Back in 1997 Professor Patrick Quilty propsed putting a huge plastic bag around an iceberg and towing it Africa as a source of fresh drinking water.  We are proposing, ... http://www.earthembassy.org/events/the-s-s-highball/ 日本語 We retained and restored the original massive beams of the house, but added glass in all the right places to light the interior and showcase the structure.  Here the "genkan" entrance was pushed out 3 feet to accommodate a larger area for coming in out of the rain and ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/%e5%92%8c%e6%a7%98%e7%8e%84%e9%96%a2-japanese-farm-home-entrance/ With Rueben gone, Eva needed a new home for the winter.  Sheep are extremely social animals and she was NOT happy being left alone in their field.   We found a recently established sheep farm in Kamikuishiki Village, about 15 minutes up the road.  Kim, Nate and Masako kept her company ... http://www.earthembassy.org/uncategorized/evas-new-home/ The second floor of our Shojiko Minka Restoration has a small south facing tatami room that was originally used as a meditation space.   The beautiful view overlooks the Japanese garden and frog pond, and down to lake over the rooftops of the village.  New sliding glass doors are double pane ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/zen-meditation-room/ With all the doom and gloom we hear in the news about CO2, climate change, resource depletion, etc etc, it is easy to think we are at the end of nature.  But once in awhile a small sign reminds us that nature is still doing ok and may come out ... http://www.earthembassy.org/our-farm/the-bears-are-doing-fine/ 日本語 The center room of the newly finished Shojiko house has 150 year old 2ft wide floor boards surrounding a traditional horikotatsu fireplace.  Perfect for sitting around drinking sake and roasting kuri and yakiniku with friends.  The home is offered with a collection of rare and beautiful antiques from Meji ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/%e6%8e%98%e3%82%8a%e7%82%ac%e7%87%b5-hori-kotatsu-traditional-fire-place/ Just to show you some of the work behind the scenes.  We started with an old un-insulated wall and a lot of circa 1975 cabinets.  Demolition of the walls, added a new post for support, pushed out the south end 2meters and put in sliding glass doors, polished the beams, ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/kitchen-reform-process/ Winter here in Yamanashi Prefecture can be cold and long.  But the beauty of Mt Fuji and the fresh snows that blow off her peak make the long wait for spring bearable.  She is a bit of the earth, sticking up into the heavens to represent us and even on ... http://www.earthembassy.org/events/winter-comes-to-the-mountain/ 日本語 The living room in the High Village House has a new floor of 100% Japanese Cedar with electrical heating installed.  Really cozy, especially when you are watching the snow fall out the windows in the village.    The house is currently for sale and we are offering a 2,000,000 yen ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/cedar-heated-floors-%e6%9d%89%e5%ba%8a%e6%9a%96%e6%88%bf/ 日本語 The upstairs loft of the High Village House at Lake Shojiko was traditionally used as silk raising room.  The silk moth caterpillar were tended here in winter and fed mulberry leaves to keep them happy and producing.  We have restored the thatched ceiling, keeping the 60cm of original straw ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/shojiko-thatched-roof-restoration-%e8%97%81%e8%91%ba%e3%81%8d%e5%9b%9e%e5%be%a9/ Another custom designed and built MASTERPIECE by Akaike-san for the Shojiko Traditional house reform! We requested a round bath with a sloped side for gazing at the garden while bathing.  But we also needed a more straight side in case grandma wants to enter in slowly, so we added a ... http://www.earthembassy.org/eco-homes/japanese-cedar-soaking-bath-at-shojiko-house/ The wonderful people at Oguri Noen in Shizuoka are processing our mint and packing it into tea bags.  The tea farm was started by Mr. Oguri's father nearly 40years ago and has expanded to become the main packaging operation for all the local green tea farms.  Their high-tech clean room ... http://www.earthembassy.org/our-farm/mint-tea-packaging-crew/ Yes, its true!!!   Nate and Masako came up to the Solar Cafe for a second honeymoon (our wedding gift to them). And as a special treat, we pulled out a special special recipe.  Strawberry pizza with bananas and Jake's special chai yogurt sauce.  In a few years when this is a ... http://www.earthembassy.org/amazing-foods/worlds-first-strawberry-pizza/ Our dearest and oldest friend, Rueben the sheep, passed away on Nov 29th, 2009. He was one of the original founders of the  Earth Embassy way back in 2000 and saw it through the good times and the bad.  Rueben appeared on Japanese TV numerous times, starting with a cameo on ... http://www.earthembassy.org/our-farm/rueben/ What can I say.  Some days you pick roses, and some days they pick you.... I was checking out a new piece of land next to our mint field, thinking of cutting back the wild brush and planting in the spring.  But the wild roses growing there seem not to want ... http://www.earthembassy.org/our-farm/farm-life-with-wild-roses/ For those of you using Facebook, I suggest you check out the Farmville game. It is simple but addicting, plow your fields, plant some crops, harvest, sell and make money to buy more seeds, cheap pink flamingos, etc.  The coolest feature for me is that you can visit friend's farms ... http://www.earthembassy.org/our-farm/virutal-farming-is-big-farmville/ We are pleased to announce that a new program for Jajja’s Kids began last month, and we hope to continue it throughout the coming year. Called the Friday Program, its purpose is to provide counseling, care, food and comfort to street children living in two slum districts of Kampala, ... http://www.earthembassy.org/jajjas-kids-africa/jajjas-kids-new-friday-program/