World House News

A plan to relocate an traditional wooden house from Japan to Taiwan is evolving into a platform for sharing the experience of volunteering, as well as promoting a transnational community-to-community exchange on efficient earthquake reconstruction.

On July 21, representatives of the Mikura community in KobeJapan signed an agreement in Taipei with their Taiwanese counterparts to permit the relocation and rebuilding of a traditional Japanese-style house to DanshuiTownship Taipei County in the northern part of Taiwan.

The historic building--which has no nails, but uses mortise and tenon joints--was constructed in Fukui Prefecture approximately 1915 by the father of renowned Japanese author Minakami Tsutomu (1919-2004). The work of rebuilding the house in Taiwan will likely begin in November according to Chiu Ming-min, a community development expert and the project's Taiwanese manager.