Last Sunday, my friend invited me to an old Japanese house.

The house is in the countryside, and we drove for a few hours in the early summer rain through hills and rice fields to get there.

The house is around 300 years old. The owners of the house like the traditional way of life, so it has straw mats on the floor, sliding paper screens on the windows and dark, narrow staircases.

It is very dark inside the house. But I like that. I think it creates a very relaxing atmosphere, and we can imagine life in the house when it was built. I felt that, even though 300 years have passed, in this house very little has changed.

From the upstairs rooms, we can see the rooftops of the neighbouring houses.

It was a nice way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. I hope I get the chance to spend a night or two there sometime!  🙂

(H)