The Story ofMichinoku Gold

Among the carpentry of traditional Japanese houses, the Kesen school, with its superb technique, is regarded as one of Japan’s Four Great Schools of Carpentry. In order to pass on these techniques to future generations, a new wooden, thatch-roofed, single-story building and a kura storehouse were built in the style of the early Meiji era, using historically accurate carpentry techniques. If you ask the director, he’ll join you by the hearth in the main building and, in the local dialect of the region, regale you with tales about the old way of life, the history of Kesen carpentry, and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.