In the town of Yusuhara in Kochi Prefecture, we have designed six buildings over the course of approximately 30 years, beginning with Kumo no Ueno Hotel (1994). Yusuhara's leading industry is forestry, and ced　ar wood harvested there was used as a key material in all of the projects.
We first visited Yusuhara and were delighted with the community after being invited by a friend from Kochi Prefecture, Odani Tadahiro, who was a leading figure in the movement to conserve the wood-frame Yusuhara-za Theater. It was in Yusuhara that we first became fascinated with wood as a material and discovered the joys of collaboration with local washi papermakers, plasterers, and bamboo artisans.