fuji 5 lakes

Shojiko Kitchen – Classic Japanese meets Ikea

Reforming this kitchen was the biggest adventure of the whole house. We pushed out the south wall into the garden, and added big windows to let the light in and a deck next to the pond. The heated cherry floors were the only place in the house where we used imported wood; every where else is Japanese cedar. The real charm was when we exposed the beams above the drop ceiling that had been added. We polished them up and had to configure the new room to leave them visible. I really didn’t want to use wall-board behind the counter, so we ended up doing plaster by hand and added a piece of glass we recycled from an old pinball machine above the stove to catch the grease and be easily cleanable. We also wanted to keep a traditional country feel, but make the kitchen easy to use, so we added Ikea cabinets with all the special shelves inside for pots and cutting boards, etc, and an electric induction range with a grill built in for fish and toast. The final touch was the cedar splash board which we custom fit under the windows and gave 4 coats of varnish to make it last.

fuji 5 lakes

“The stairs to heaven are paved with stones our grandfather laid”

The Shojiko High Village House ( available May, 2010 ) , sits atop an ancient stone wall at the very highest point of the village.  The stones (and much of the woodwork in the house) predate power tools and were built long before the current road around the lake connected the village to the rest of the prefecture.  The stones and wood were mostly crafted right in the village, and the original thatching for the roof came on small boats from the grassy plains on lower My. Fuji from across the lake.