Chiiori
Encyclopedia
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
minka
Minka
are private residences constructed in any one of several traditional Japanese building styles.In the context of the four divisions of society, minka were the dwellings of farmers, artisans, and merchants , but this connotation no longer exists in the modern Japanese language, and any traditional...
farmhouse in the Iya Valley
Iya Valley
The Iya Valley region in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan is a scenic area known for its dramatic mountain valleys and old vine bridges. Although access has improved in recent years, the Iya Valley and the inner parts of Shikoku have historically been remote and difficult to enter, making them a...
, western Tokushima, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Purchased by Alex Kerr
Alex Kerr
Alex Kerr is an American writer and Japanologist.-Life and career:Originally from the Bethesda area in Montgomery County, Maryland, Kerr’s father, a naval officer, was posted in Yokohama from 1964 to 1966. Kerr returned to the states and studied Japanese Studies at Yale University...
in the 1970s, the house is now home to staff members of Chiiori Trust, a non-profit organization based in Iya Valley that is working toward solutions to the problems surrounding depopulation in rural Japan.
From 1997 to 2007, Kerr shared ownership of Chiiori with Mason Florence. However, in summer of 2007, Kerr bought back Florence's share and has since managed the house along with volunteers and Chiiori Trust staff.