This is the kura of Sutou-san, the organic farmer. The kura is roughly 100 years old and Sutou-san's family goes back 1000 years in this area. This kura has half meter thick walls. It is constructed of local materials only. The structural elements are made from un-milled tree trunks and the walls from rice and sake mash. It is built using traditional, slot-fit construction.

It used to house machinery for polishing rice. There is a nice sink in the foundation perfect for a floor level sand pit for plasma cutting. Currently it is full of farming equipment and tools. Think we will keep the wagon wheels. The kura has three floors that can be put into these rough catagories for the FabLab: 1st: will be for larger machines and equpiment 2nd: smaller machines, programming and board stuffing 3rd: for resting and quiet programming

Sutou-san has been involved loosely in Information Technology for some time including a "virtual rice growing" project, that made national news. He is also heavily involved in orgaincs and ecology his entire life. He already has a list of projects lined up for FabLab Japan including a new type of rice seeding technology. Sutou-san is in the center below.