Thank you very much for your support.

Thank you very much for your kind support for the crowdfunding project “The Thatched Roof Gate-house of Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach: Restoration and Creation｜Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan”.

The total amount from 442 supporters was 11.397million yen.

This was a huge success, far exceeding our initial goal of 8 million yen. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your warm support for the thatched gate-house restoration project.

Shoji Hamada started up Hamadagama (the Hamada Pottery) in this part of Mashiko in 1931. In 1934, he moved the Nagayamon, or gate-house, from its original nearby location to its current position and renovated it so that his lifelong friend, Bernard Leach, could stay and work in Mashiko.

Since then, Leach often used the Nagayamon as his studio and living quarters. The thatched roof of this building, which is filled with the deep friendship between the two men, has been replaced several times in the 90 years since its relocation, but after the death of Hamada, the gate-house was closed and used only as a storehouse. The roof and also the wood in the foundations have suffered damage, and significant restoration work had always been a long-held goal.

Students at the University of Tsukuba who were conducting research on the preservation of historical buildings through crowdfunding happened to visit the Shoji Hamada Memorial Mashiko Sankokan (Reference) Museum and they encouraged us at Hamadagama to work on the project as a team with them. At the same time, we received support from carpenters and architects with experience in old minka (traditional style Japanese houses), at Hitachi-Fudoki-no-Oka in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and who are engaged in thatched roof restoration, LLP Landscape Company, which cooperated with our return, and Professor Kunihiro Ando, Professor Emeritus of University of Tsukuba, who has studied thatch architecture for many years, as well as many other people in various locations who love Mingei. We have received support from many quarters, including people from all over the world, which has enabled us to move forward.



Through crowdfunding, we learned from various people about thatch and old minka and their current problems, and it was also a fruitful opportunity to re-examine Shoji Hamada's Mingei Movement. We are deeply grateful for this valuable experience, as we were able to confirm the history of the people who have supported the Hamada Pottery from generation to generation, as well as being made aware of new issues that need attending to, and gaining perspectives for the future.



Over the next year or so, with the funds we have received from you, our supporters, we will fully restore the Hamada Pottery’s Nagayamon and use it as a place to promote thatch-roof culture and activities to maintain old minka, and as a cultural facility to keep the pottery studio that Hamada and Leach used so much, alive for the future. There are not enough words to express our gratitude to the many people who have kindly supported our activities, but we would like to show our appreciation by continuing our activities at the thatched gate-house. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all of our supporters by continuing our activities at the thatched gate-house.


この英文は大山・ヴィクトリア様にご協力をいただき作成いたしました。
この場を借りて御礼申し上げます。誠にありがとうございました。
This text was prepared with the support of Victoria Oyama.