“Improved? How so?” you ask?
For starters, we’ve added a new feature we’re very excited about, something in the works
since last summer – The Kominka Japan Forum!
While our Facebook page and its nearly 4,500 members has always been “ground zero” for
up-to-the-minute information, over time we’ve come to realize that so much great
information – posts by members there regarding carpentry, insulation, roofing, and heating
advice, offers of free minka “bones,” irori components, and firewood, contact information
for traditional carpenters, questions asked and answered about traditional tools and tansu
and so much more – gets lost in Facebook’s endless scroll format.
The Facebook page is searchable, but a Kominka Japan Forum will help make posting
questions, finding answers, connecting and sharing information with others much, much
easier. And, just as important, finding that vital piece of information you remember from six
months back will be a lot easier as everything on the Forum will effectively be archived.
Finally, one part of the Forum is designed to help you connect with other minka enthusiasts
in your area.
Another reason for the Forum is the reality that not everyone uses Facebook and, for
various reasons, some longtime Facebook users are abandoning that platform for other
social media. Once it gets up and running, we think you’ll find our Forum a fun and
incredibly useful tool in searching for your dream minka, renovating and maximizing your
minka’s potential, and in integrating (and ingratiating) yourself into your newly adopted
communities.
The Official Kominka Japan Website has undergone several permutations since its founding
in 2016. Part of the fallout from last year’s hostile takeover attempt (to transform Kominka
Japan into a for-profit LLC/KK) was that while we successfully maintained full control over
the Facebook page and Kominka Japan funds, the takeover attempt did result in our
previous website getting zapped. This was most unfortunate, particularly as the previous
site included the invaluable “My Village” Program, in which members and supporters of
Kominka Japan generously provided information about their rural villages, graciously
volunteering invitations for anyone interested in possibly moving there to contact them and
even arrange meet-ups. The temporary loss of this program for nearly three months, to my
mind, did those folks a great disservice. Fortunately, I was able to copy those pages hours
before the previous site was taken down and am pleased to announce that it’s been
restored here on this site.
If you’re looking for a minka, I invite you to peruse the “My Village” section. And if you’re
living in a minka in a rural community at risk of depopulation, I invite you to consider adding
your name and village to the program. The feedback I’ve received from participants is that
it’s doing some good.
Another improvement you’ll find at our new site is our determination to keep it up-to-date
with regular new content, including the latest updates about Kominka Japan events, such as
our “Kominka Japan – Live!” Zoom group chat this month, and the 2026 Minka Summit.
Exemplifying this determination is our new section of References and Links. There you’ll find
English (and some Japanese) books about minka and rural Japan living, along with links to
related sites, including the growing number of YouTubers (and Vimeo, etc.) documenting
their searches and renovations of minka across Japan. We will regularly add new data, and if
you’d like to recommend a book or a YouTube page, don’t hesitate to let us know, even it’s
your own!
So please try out our new Forum and watch this space! More to come…onward and upward!
Stuart