The Vanishing Summer Room: Japan’s Secret to Seasonal Living | Koifish Village | Nagano | Niigata

Ah, look at how the summer light settles upon this floor. In traditional Japan, a house was never static. As the seasons shifted, the home transformed, exchanging solid paper doors for open reed screens, welcoming the faintest summer breeze. Here at the Koshi residence in Suzaka, Nagano, time seems to pause. These woven screens do not block the heat with force. Rather, they soften the sunlight and invite the mountain air to wander through. Just as we change our clothes for the summer, people in Japan used to change the fittings of their traditional rooms as well. It carries a wonderfully distinct Japanese sense of refined seasonal charm. The world around these wooden sanctuaries has changed. Modern summers grow harsher by the year, making air conditioning an indispensable shield. Today's highly insulated homes keep us safe, but the seasonal ritual of changing screens is quietly slipping away. To stand in a room screened by reeds is to remember a gentler harmony with nature. Though the ways we live may evolve, the quiet grace of these disappearing summer rooms continues to remind us how beautifully we once lived alongside the seasons. The old Ozawa house, a home of wealthy merchants who flourished from the Edo to the Meiji period. Just look at this magnificent tori-doma, the earthen hallway, the height of the open ceiling, the pitch black beams glowing with time. Simply marvelous. It tells the story of an era when Niigata thrived as a bustling maritime hub. Ah, the Natsu Shoji, the summer sliding doors. There is such an exquisite refinement here. These are not merely fixtures. They are a tradition of living gracefully with the seasons. By replacing solid panels with these woven bamboo and reed screens, the house invites the garden's breeze to linger, filtering the harsh sun into a soft, cool glow. It is an ingenious way to find comfort in the heat. One of the reasons traditional Japanese rooms are disappearing from Japan is that summers have become much hotter than they used to be. In old Japan, enduring the summer was considered paramount and ensuring good ventilation was essential. The exact opposite of today's highly insulated homes. Summer heat was believed to cause illness, so protecting oneself from the heat was a matter of health and survival. That was the essence of the traditional room's history. In Japan, there is a traditional concept known as shitsurai. Shitsurai refers to the practice of preparing and decorating a room with specific furnishings to match the season or occasion. It is a time-honored wisdom, born from a deep sensitivity to the shifting beauty of the four seasons. Notice the bamboo blinds, or misu, used in this traditional room. Unlike heavy curtains, they gently soften the incoming light while allowing a natural breeze to filter inside. Because you can faintly see through them, they create an open, airy feeling without making the room feel cramped. It's an exceptionally refined interior element. This item is an exhibit on display inside the tool storehouse. A quiet stroll through the inner garden, every element is deliberately placed, creating a microcosm of nature where a minimalist spirit can rest and breathe. A Japanese garden believed to have been created in the late Meiji period. While featuring traditional garden techniques, it also incorporates lawns, reflecting a modern style at the time that used the garden as a space for socializing and daily life. The stones were gathered from all over Japan, and the stone lanterns appear to have been brought all the way from Kyoto. Transported by boat, these gathered garden materials tell us today of the affluent lifestyle of a Meiji-era wealthy merchant. Ah, just look at this exquisite harmony. It is wonderful, a living legacy of a bygone era, quietly breathing through the greenery. In Ojiya, Niigata, this devotion to living beauty takes another breathtaking form at Nishikigoi no Sato. Here, the world's finest swimming jewels glide through pristine waters, bred with patience and profound mastery. These living works of art embody the very spirit of Japanese refinement, bringing a splash of cool, mesmerizing elegance to the heat of summer.