In Oharano, where the studio is located, there is still a beautiful bamboo forest, just as in the olden days. The town is thought to be the birthplace of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", because there is an area called "Ishizukuri", which is also the name of a nobleman in the story.

Through the good offices of a member of the residents' association, I was able to renovate a vacant barbershop into a hermitage-style studio with the help of an architect whom I met at a bamboo-related event, and named it Hachiku-an.

It is a small studio measuring only 66 m², and with bamboo chips mixed into its clay walls and bamboo paintings on the outside, it reflects a real passion for bamboo.