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is the name of an
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
''
minka are Vernacular architecture, vernacular houses constructed in any one of several traditional Japanese architecture, Japanese building styles. In the context of the four divisions of society, were the dwellings of farmers, artisans, and merchan ...
'' farmhouse in the
Iya Valley The Iya Valley (祖谷 ''Iya'') region in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan is a scenic area known for its mountain valleys, thatched roof farmhouses and historic Vine Bridges. Although access has improved in recent years, the Iya Valley and the inne ...
, western
Tokushima is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. Dating from around 1720, the house is believed to be the second oldest in Iya. (The oldest, nearby Kimura House, is designated an Important Cultural Property) Chiiori preserves its original structure, , and pine floors blackened by hundreds of years of smoke from the ''irori''. The house is unusual for farm houses in Japan because there are no ceilings (except over the small sleeping rooms). This was because for much of the Edo period, tobacco was a leading crop of Iya, and villagers used to hang the tobacco up in the rafters to smoke over the ''irori''. Due to the lack of ceilings, Chiiori has a dramatic wide-open interior. Purchased by Japanologist Alex Kerr in 1973, Chiiori features in Alex's book
Lost Japan is a 1993 book written by American Japonologist Alex Kerr. Background The book deals with Kerr's life in Japan and on aspects of Japanese culture by which he was fascinated. The text is a collection of personal essays in which he suggests that ...
. Originally there was no road up to the house, so the only access was to walk an hour from the Iya River road below. Today there's a winding one-lane road access to the house. It is now the center of Chiiori Trust (a non-profit organization based in Iya Valley that is working toward solutions to the problems surrounding depopulation in rural Japan), and Chiiori Alliance (a company dedicated to the same goals). From 1997 to 2007, Kerr shared ownership of Chiiori with Mason Florence. In the summer of 2007, Kerr bought back Florence's share; since then, Kerr and the Chiiori Trust/Chiiori Alliance have managed the house. In 2012, Chiiori underwent a major restoration. Over the course of a year, the roof was re-thatched, walls and underfloor structure redone with damage repaired, earthquake protection incorporated, and amenities built in, such as plumbing, bath, toilets, lighting, and heating systems etc. However, most of these changes are invisible, and the thatch, irori, and old pine floors are as they've always been. Working as a consultant for the city of Miyoshi, of which Iya is a part, Kerr went on to restore eight other thatched houses in the hamlet of Ochiai located further up the valley from Chiiori. Today, Chiiori Alliance manages all nine houses as lodgings for travelers and spaces for cultural events. File:Chiiori irori floor hearths.jpg, Interior of Chiiori


External links


Official website
Farmhouses Houses in Japan 1720s establishments in Japan Houses completed in 1720 Buildings and structures in Tokushima Prefecture Thatched buildings {{Japan-struct-stub