It took me a while to realize that my new pen pal, Hironobu Kagae, is an emerging lifestyle guru. He and I met on Instagram: I sent him a message admiring his entryway and we struck up a halting conversation. I don’t speak Japanese and Hironobu was relying on Google Translate. But he shared intriguing photos of his family home and rural life at the southernmost tip of mainland Japan, and everyone at Remodelista was immediately hooked.
Hironobu and his wife, Hitomi, have three kids and live in a village in Kagoshima prefecture. He works for Sinken, a building company specializing in environmentally friendly custom wooden houses—”we look for ways to satisfy both people and nature,” explains the website. Hironobu might have written that himself—it turns out he’s a columnist on the Sinken site, and by making use of Google Translate myself, I came to learn a lot more about Hironobu’s own story; his practical, unpretentious approach to design; and his celebration of everyday pleasures, such as “sitting by a window and calmly catching the air at the beginning of the day.”
A nutshell bio: To avoid the forbidding high school admissions test, Hironobu attended technical high school where he studied interior design—then went on to earn a newspaper college scholarship and a master’s degree in architecture, all while delivering papers for 14 years (he started in fifth grade). It was touring a Sinken design that inspired him to work for the company—which entailed moving with his family three hours south to the countryside. In Kagoshima, he was able to buy a triangle of land and build his own work-in-progress compound, pet goat, oak forest, and newly planted rice field included.
Hironobu’s home chronicles—on the benefits, for instance, of having a communal closet and family bath right next to the laundry area (the title of that essay is “A house that makes housework easier”) —have been so popular that he’s just published his first book, The Meaning of Living, which he described for me as “an essay on what I thought about when designing and building my own home and my daily life.” Join us for a tour via the Kagae family album.
Photography by Hironobu Kagae (@kagae_hironobu).
![a japanese maple (here in its fall glory) stands outside the front door. of his 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/front-exterior-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-1c.jpg)
![the laminated cedar structure is left exposed, as is the sinken way—& 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/front-storage-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-2.jpg)
The framework is cleverly put to use as entry storage courtesy of a wooden overhead rack (see our 10 Easy Pieces on Train Racks). Hironobu’s book publisher quotes him as saying he built the house with “the desire to spend every day with peace of mind and kindness.”
![the structure is compact (for togetherness and longterm use) and the downstairs 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/living-room-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-4.jpg)
The collapsible Nychair X Lounge on the deck is a Japanese design classic from the 1970s.
![in the winter it snows on occasion and the under floor heating is supplemented 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/living-room-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-6.jpg)
![there\2\17;s a compact kitchen at the other end of the living room with 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/living-room-kitchen-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-7.jpg)
![when the family\2\17;s coffee supplies proliferated, hironobu built the 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kitchen-window-cup-shelves-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-7b.jpg)
![the family\2\17;s new kitchen table—a midcentury design by scotti 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kitchen-table-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-7081-8.jpg)
![previously, the family had a rectangular oak table and benches that hironobu bu 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hironobu-kagae-kitchen-sinken-home.jpg)
![in the warm weather, the daybed gets moved against the large kitchen window and 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kitchen-table-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-7169-7369-9.jpg)
![in summer, the daybed overlooks the newly planted rice field. since building th 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bedroom-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-10.jpg)
![the upstairs landing offers another entrancing view and is used as a place for 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/upstairs-view-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-11.jpg)
![the son and two daughters share a room that extends across the eastern side of 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kids-room-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-11a.jpg)
![each child has a private sleeping and study area. 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hironobu-kagae-childrens-room-kagoshima-japan.jpg)
![during last year\2\17;s winter holidays, hironobu built this second floo 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/balcony-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-12.jpg)
![the deck and benches are another diy project. \2\20;a cool house, a luxu 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/exterior-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-1b.png)
![hironobu\2\17;s daughter tests his newly finished basketball setup. that 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hironobu-kagae-home-basketball-hoop-japan.jpg)
![\2\20;when the life of a person and his or her family is reflected in th 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/exterior-hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-1a.jpg)
Floor Plans
![the living and dining areas shift with the seasons—for better views and 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-floor-plan-first-floor-english-notationsjpg.jpg)
![parents\2\17; and kids\2\17; rooms are upstairs as is the aforeme 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hironobu-kagae-family-house-kagoshima-japan-floor-plan-second-floor-english-notations-1.jpg)
Here are three more favorite houses that architects designed for themselves:
- Head for the Hills: Two NYC Architects Design Their Own Passive House, Vipp Kitchen Included
- Ca’Giovanni: An Architect’s (Gentle) Renovations of His Great-Grandfather’s Work
- The New Starter House? An Architect Designs a Home That Can Move With Its Owners
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