[Faculty of Architecture & Arts] Students from Otemae University have created a wooden fence (Yamato fence) to preserve the environment of an old house in Owase City.

In Professor Kawakubo's seminar at Otemae University 's Faculty of Architecture & Arts, they conduct field research to investigate the current state of vacant houses in regional cities and rural areas, and propose ways to renovate and utilize these houses to prevent them from becoming dangerous due to being abandoned.
The seminar has been working on vacant house countermeasures since 2013 in cooperation with the Owase Living Support Center, an NPO in Owase City, Mie Prefecture, and since last year has been working on the restoration of an old house called "Kaneto" in Kuki Town. Kaneto was once a dried fish store, and is a distinctive building with a rounded roof at the entrance and rain gutters decorated with the family crest, which hint at the prosperity of the past, located on a site of about 1,000 square meters. Last year, the old warehouse was demolished and the shoji screens were replaced, and this year in March, the second floor toilet was renovated. This time, from September 3rd to 6th, we built a Yamato fence between the site of the warehouse demolished last year and the neighboring house. The Yamato fence is a wooden fence found in traditional Japanese houses, and is designed with an ingenious design in mind, with boards attached alternately to the front and back of the horizontal beam (furring strip) to allow wind to pass through but block views from neighboring houses. Under the guidance of volunteer Kaguyanosatobashi, president of Owase City woodworking manufacturer, the students worked on construction projects such as assembling cypress pillars and trusses on a concrete foundation, attaching cedar boards on top to provide privacy, and painting the structure with a preservative.
In the future, we would like to build a wooden deck inside the fence and use the large garden as a space for relaxation. Also, since last year, a group working on forest maintenance in Owase City has been using the house as lodging, and we will continue to work on repairing the roof, improving the bath on the first floor, and other measures to make the facility even more comfortable.

(Source: School Public Relations)