[Total 104 Participants] "Unraveling Old Houses" Lecture Series of 5 Sessions Held at a 200-Year-Old Traditional House with a Tea Room in Tarui, Sennan City

Background: Towards the Regeneration of Dormant Local Assets

"Unraveling Old Houses" is a lecture series held at a traditional house with a tea room in Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture, owned by Johotoshi Co., Ltd. To unravel the value of old houses from multiple perspectives, we held talk events with experts from five angles: renovation, tea rooms, roof tiles, gardens, and folk crafts.

From February to June 2026, across all 5 sessions, participants ranged widely from teenagers to those over 70, with many coming from outside Osaka Prefecture. In the post-event survey, over 90% of participants responded that the content was "easy to understand" or "very easy to understand," despite its specialized nature, satisfying a wide range of people from practitioners to the general public. All 5 sessions served to foster a growing desire to utilize old houses.

The venue: A 200-year-old traditional house with a tea room (owned by Johotoshi, Tarui, Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture)

Event Overview

Period: February - June 2026 (5 sessions) / Each session: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Venue: 5-9-14 Tarui, Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture (10-minute walk from Tarui Station on the Nankai Main Line)

Participants: Total 104 people / Participation Fee: 500 yen per session (tax included)

Organizer: Johotoshi Co., Ltd. / Cooperation: Osaka Branch 2, National Association for the Preservation of Old Houses

Event Report: Looking Back on All 5 Sessions

All 5 sessions served as an opportunity to unravel the value of the 200-year-old traditional house with a tea room from multiple perspectives, using it as a "living textbook" through the five angles of renovation, tea rooms, roof tiles, gardens, and folk crafts.

Session 1 | Old Houses and Renovation (Mr. Nobuo Sakai, Chairman, Sakai Architectural Office Co., Ltd.) Blessed with clear skies, the first session attracted over 20 participants from within and outside Osaka Prefecture. Mr. Sakai, who is active based in Hokusetu, explained the renovation and regeneration of over 50 buildings, including shrines, temples, and old houses, with abundant case study photos.

Session 2 | Old Houses and Tea Rooms (Mr. Yukio Kawakami, Representative Director, Japan Tea Ceremony House Promotion Organization) This session learned about Japanese tea culture and tea room architecture, often called a comprehensive art, using the tea room in the venue's old house as a "living textbook." Mr. Kawakami, an architect and kominkanist who has authored specialized books on old houses and tea room architecture, explained the spatial composition, the philosophy embedded in the design, and the Japanese aesthetic sensibility nurtured by the tea ceremony, while touring the actual tea room.

Session 3 | Old Houses and Tiled Roofs (Mr. Yoshihiro Yoshimura, Representative Director, Yoshimura Tile Research Institute Co., Ltd.) The theme was tiled roofs, a symbol of old houses. This session saw 22 participants from beyond Osaka, including Nara, Wakayama, Hyogo, and Shiga prefectures. Mr. Yoshimura, who has long been involved in the roof repairs of traditional buildings, including temples, introduced the historical background and structure of roof tiles, and regional variations in tiling methods, with practical demonstrations using actual tiles.

Session 4 | Old Houses and Gardens (Mr. Kazuhito Nakanishi, Representative Director, Chibe Co., Ltd. / Mr. Takayoshi Kimura, Managing Director, Kimura Construction Co., Ltd.) Twenty participants from a wide range of generations, from teenagers to those over 70, attended. Mr. Nakanishi, a gardener who manages over 200 private residences annually in Izumi City and also worked on the garden of the venue's old house, and Mr. Kimura, an architect from a long-established construction company in Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, who has been involved in the design and construction of various buildings, held a cross-talk on the "relationship between gardens and houses, and between the inside and outside." While looking at the actual garden, they discussed points for living in and passing down old houses, and the reality of maintenance costs, with practical examples.

Session 5 (Final Session) | Old Houses and Folk Crafts (Mr. Takushi Hamada, Professor, Department of Geography and Regional Culture, School of Letters, Kwansei Gakuin University) The theme of the final session, concluding the series, was "Folk Crafts." Professor Hamada, specializing in cultural geography and regional culture studies and researching the folk craft movement, introduced the practice of regenerating old houses at the Mashiko and Hamada Shoji residences, and houses designed by artists embodying folk crafts, based on the beauty of "beauty of utility" found in the unnamed craftsmanship used in daily life. The session concluded by re-examining the value of old houses passed down through generations in the region.

Johotoshi Co., Ltd.'s Initiatives in Regenerating Old Houses

Johotoshi Co., Ltd. aims to be a regional regeneration developer and is engaged in projects to regenerate vacant houses and old houses in the region.

◆ Sanominato Housing Complex Regeneration Project

In 2015, we became the first private entity in Japan to acquire a housing complex of over 300 units from UR Urban Renaissance Agency. We have been working on regeneration from both hardware and software aspects for about 10 years, improving the occupancy rate from 58% to 95%. In fiscal year 2024, we received the "27th Kansai Town Planning Award" from the Kansai Branch of the Japan Society of Urban Planning.

◆ Reconstruction Project of a 4-Unit Terraced House in Front of Senshu-Anjo Station (Ongoing)

We have begun the regeneration of a 4-unit terraced house over 100 years old located in front of Senshu-Anjo Station. This project was realized through an introduction from the former owner who appreciated our efforts in regenerating old houses.

◆ Development of Old House Utilization Events

Over 60 people participated in the first event held in Kishiwada City in 2025. The current "Unraveling Old Houses" is the second event, held as a 5-session lecture series with a total of 104 participants. The interest shown has far surpassed the previous event, aiming to build a network of people interested in old house regeneration and foster momentum towards solving the region's vacant house problem.

Company Profile

Company Name: Johotoshi Co., Ltd.

Address: 910-1 Kamikawaya, Senshu City

Representative: Yoshio Yoshida

URL: https://www.j-toshi.com/

Business Activities: Comprehensive Real Estate Business

【Contact Information】

TEL: 072-464-3005

Contact: Public Relations Planning Office, Kawashima

e-mail: [email protected]