Japanese Treehouses

Are you addicted to Toxel? I am. It posted about treehouses, and there are a couple of interesting ones in Okinawa.

Beautiful.

The Beach Rock Treehouse was designed by Takashi Kobayashi. What’s best is this is the thing in which we’ll likely make first contact!

Kobayashi, a leading treehouse-maker, also made this:

I want it

One speculates that because of this skill, he would be the ultimate father.

A concrete Gajumaru tree.

The Naha Harbor Diner is a fun idea. It certainly sticks out. Unfortunately (but for obvious reasons), the tree is fake. Certainly looks real, though.

Now I want to visit Okinawa even more.

I loved treehouses when I was a kid, but didn’t have enough friends or siblings to warrant having one of my own. The thought of having a small house all to myself was absolutely titillating, however — I loved miniature versions of things, as I suppose some girls do, with doll houses and such. (That was back when Polly Pocket was good, and yes, I loved and collected those, too.)

Having seen fine examples of crazy treehouses from around the world, I decided to see how many notable treehouses are in Japan.

I found another cool one by Terunobu Fujimori, one that looks a bit structurally unsound and is all the cooler for it:

Takasugi, "a teahouse built too high"

I’m not sure if I’d like to stay in a treehouse that can be regarded as “an extension of one’s body“, but it’s still really, really neat. It’s the kind of private getaway I could appreciate as an adult. It’s actually a teahouse built in the style of a treehouse, which makes it even more brilliant. Watch a video about it!

There is a Tree House Village called Gankoyama in southern Boso, Chiba. If you’ve been waiting to refine your forest survival skills, it’s the place for you!

It's probably harder than it looks

Apparently it is a wholesome and organic experience, and all the energy used is renewable. Cook organically, practice archery, hike, and build your own shelter (that is, build an entire treehouse). I’m a big softy, but I’d like to try.

I never learned how to climb anything vertical

I’m a big fan of the organic.

Inspiration is a wonderful thing.

Also, this treehouse isn’t Japanese-created, but it is inspired by Japanese lanterns, and that’s good enough for this blog.

Designer, artist, author, comic enthusiast, and geek about visual design/video games/Japan/human rights. Among other things!

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