From a "Consuming" to a "Self-Creating" Society: Building a Circular Economy where people create their own lives, starting from Shimane – the prefecture with Japan's highest proportion of old folk houses – and delivering it to the world.

Our company endorses April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day for announcing dreams. This press release is the dream of “Everyplan Inc. (Kominka Re-valorization Brand ‘Toku’)”.

Everyplan Inc. (Headquarters: Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture; Representative Director: Yuji Katsube), which operates the old folk house re-valorization project “Toku” in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, dreams of reinterpreting kominka, traditional Japanese architecture, as “circular architecture” and building a “circular society” where people create their own lives, starting from Shimane and delivering it to the world.

Our Dream: Shimane to Become a Pioneer of the World’s Aimed “Circular Society”

Our dream is to showcase a model for a “sustainable society (circular economy)” that the world aims for, based on the old folk houses and the living culture rooted in the Shimane region.

It’s a lifestyle that combines modern technology and new ways of working with fundamental techniques like repairing houses, making fires, and growing one's own food. For example, in the morning, one might open a laptop to participate in a remote meeting in an urban area, in the afternoon, join neighbors to re-plaster the mud walls of an old folk house, and in the evening, gather around a dining table with fish caught from the sea or wild vegetables from the mountains.

Such a “circular model that doesn’t just involve consuming with money, but sharing resources and self-creating” has, in fact, already existed within Shimane’s way of life.

We envision a future where initiatives originating from Shimane become pioneers of a “sustainable society” by updating this “living circulatory system” dormant in Shimane to match modern lifestyles and transforming the challenge of vacant houses into a resource.

From Old Folk Houses, a Shift from “Consumption” to a “Self-Creating” Lifestyle

In modern society, it has become commonplace to “consume” finished services and goods by paying money. As a result, we now entrust even our own homes entirely to specialists.

However, precisely because we live in an era where people can no longer create anything with their own hands, a way of life where one can create and circulate their own living environment and food is rich and appealing.

Old folk houses are not black-boxed like modern homes; they are “editable spaces” where the structure is visible. We provide an opportunity for ordinary people to engage in home building and place-making with a DIY (Do It Yourself) spirit, using these old folk houses as a platform to reclaim their own lives.

“Living Everyday” Scenery for the Next Generation: Redefining Old Folk Houses as “Circular Architecture”

Shimane Prefecture retains many townscapes and settlements with “authentic beauty” that are integrated with people’s lives, not intentionally preserved.

For example, the Ueda settlement, nestled in the mountainous region of Oonanchō, Shimane Prefecture, with its beautiful contrast of lush green satoyama and red roof tiles. Or the port town of Sagiura, Izumo City, where alleys and rows of houses fan out towards the inlet, with the blue of the Japan Sea and the red roof tiles beautifully harmonizing. These are not “cultural properties” enclosed by fences, but “living everyday” scenes that people continue to use in their daily lives.

In fact, Shimane Prefecture ranks first nationwide in the proportion of old folk houses (built before 1950) relative to the total number of residences, possessing overwhelming “resources” unmatched by other prefectures.

However, due to severe population decline and aging, many of the old folk houses that make up these beautiful landscapes are now “vacant houses.” Their maintenance and management have become difficult, and the reality is that they are being demolished one after another as “negative legacies,” left to decay.

Traditional Japanese wooden architecture is built by assembling wood without using metal fittings, possessing a “circular system” (wooden framework) that allows them to be “dismantled and reassembled.” We must change the current situation where this treasure trove of world-class architectural technology is left to decay as waste.

Our business starts with not merely “preserving” old folk houses, but “updating” them to suit modern lifestyles and reinterpreting them as “Circular Architecture.”

Creating New Spaces on the Continuum of Tradition through “Docking Vacant Houses”

One of “Toku”’s achievements is the renewal of “Wajimaya,” a single-rental inn in Sagiura, Izumo City. This former inn for Kitamaebune shipowners, dating back to the Edo period, has been transformed into a special accommodation facility where guests can enjoy a luxurious space and the history of the region.

The concept is “docking vacant houses,” combining one vacant house with another. For the renovation of Wajimaya, another vacant house in the prefecture (a residence from the early Showa era) was dismantled by hand, and its materials were fully utilized. Old bath ceiling panels were reused as the ceiling for Wajimaya’s private baths, sliced roof tiles from the dismantled house were laid on the bath floor, and old chest-of-drawers panels were revived as interior decorative panels.

Rather than simply reproducing a traditional space, combining materials that would have been discarded creates a “new space” that extends tradition.

The Future “Toku” Forges

We have already taken a step forward through the “Toku” project.

With the launch of a one-stop service for relocating and regenerating inaccessible earthen storehouses as shops, and the holding of thatched roof repair workshops inviting international travelers, people from all over the world are beginning to connect through old folk houses. At last year’s workshop, foreign participants gathered around a traditional Japanese hearth (irori), listened to the artisans’ stories, and by experiencing Japanese traditional techniques together across borders and languages, a new sense of solidarity as “bearers of culture” was born.

We will continue to transform vacant houses, a regional issue, into “resources” and build a regional circulation model that connects architecture with food and agriculture. In 10 or 20 years, we aim to realize a landscape where this initiative from Shimane is welcomed by the world with surprise and empathy as a “model for rich living in a depopulating society.”

Comment from the Project Leader: Why I Challenge This Dream

Motoki Moriyama (First-Class Architect / Professional Engineer (Urban and Regional Planning)) Manager, Co-Creation Business Promotion Office / "Toku" Project Leader, Everyplan Inc.

I was born and raised in Oda City, Shimane Prefecture, and went on to study architecture at Kyoto University. Afterwards, as a faculty member at the same university, I researched the landscape of traditional Kyoto townscapes. What I learned through this research was that the beauty of architecture and townscapes emerges from an “equilibrium state,” created as a result of continuous use and gradual renewal alongside the lives of the people who reside there.

During that time, when I conducted a survey of settlements in my hometown of Shimane, I was deeply struck to see that while the houses there each had different designs, they collectively formed a cohesive “group,” harmonizing new and old. I felt that the secret to the beauty of townscapes I had been researching (a network of similarities and differences) was being realized alongside people’s “living lives.”

I realized that instead of merely preserving old things, it is our responsibility, living in the modern age, to “build new designs and cultures upon the continuum of tradition.” To find an answer to this and implement it in society, I decided to return to Shimane.

About the Kominka Re-valorization Project “Toku”

“Toku” is a kominka re-valorization brand launched as a new business by Everyplan Inc., a comprehensive urban development consultant, to solve the vacant house problem and transform it into regional resources.

In the Shimane dialect, dismantling a building is called “Toku.” This brand, named after this word, aims to connect traditional architecture, traditional techniques, and the Japanese values embedded within them to the future, contributing to regional development. It continues efforts to relocate and reuse old folk houses that can still be utilized, and from buildings that must be inevitably dismantled, it rescues high-quality pillars and beams as “materials.” Through this circular system, it transforms vacant houses, a regional issue, into regional resources with new value.