The flexible bamboo and the sticky soil

Bamboo is the most crucial material for building a traditional Japanese house. The underpinnings for the roof and walls of such a house are made of crossed bamboo slats. The bamboo enables the house to stand with more flexibility. Like the beam, the bamboo used as a crossbar of the roof is permeated with smoke from the Irori fireplace, and it becomes distinctively glossy over the years, which is called Susudake or soot bamboo.
To construct the wall, workers first render the wall’s material, called Heshitaji, made by the way of Komai-gaki with the dirt which Susa is kneaded into. Susa is the finely shredded straw of old Tatami or Igusu reeds. By adding Susa, the dirt becomes stickier, which prevents the wall from cracking. Next, the middle coat is layered to complete the clay wall. The wisdom of our predecessors about the workings of nature is really amazing. For the middle coat of the walls of the traditional houses in Shumei Natural Agriculture Shigaraki no Sato, the soil carried from the local thicket is used. The soil that can be used for the middle coat has to fulfill the strict requirement. After having sought for the appropriate fine soil all over the place, we found it right here in the Shumei Natural Agriculture Shigaraki no Sato.

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