TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
Kerr and like-minded friends are pursuing a vision that starts with the Iya farmhouse he dubbed Chiiori, and extends out to the whole of Japan, like the multiringed wake of a pond-tossed pebble.
"What we want to do is build new buildings," says Kerr. "They don't even have to be thatch, they don't even have to be Japanese. As long as they're built of natural materials, in a quiet and beautiful way that fits in with the countryside and the mood of the village."
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