AKIYA - KAZUNORI`S CASE
/Short documentary
In Japan, there are approximately 8 million Akiya (abandoned properties), and according to research by the Nomura Research Institute, this number is expected to rise to 21 million by 2033, reaching 30% of the country’s total housing stock. This phenomenon affects both cities and rural areas but is particularly severe in the countryside, where the combination of demographic decline and migration to major metropolitan areas has left numerous homes empty and in disrepair.
The dichotomy between city and countryside, urbanization and nature has been a constant throughout history, when city walls once served to protect against the external world, seen as dangerous and wild. Today, however, this relationship seems to have reversed: cities are often perceived as hostile, congested environments, while the countryside has become a refuge for many, a space to rediscover a lost sense of balance.
Akiya – The Kazunori’s Case explores this paradox through the eyes of Kazunori Hamana, a Japanese artist living in the Chiba countryside, about 60 km from Tokyo, where he started a renovation project of several ancient Kominka (traditional folk-houses). His goal is to transform them into creative spaces for young artists, providing them with low-cost studios while simultaneously preserving rural architectural heritage.
Hamana’s approach goes beyond a purely philological restoration of vernacular architecture; instead, it follows a cyclical and adaptive method influenced by Japanese culture, where complete reconstruction is often preferred over traditional restoration. His work is distinguished by a sensitive and intentional use of existing materials, enhancing their patina and memory.
Everything is reimagined in a new form: the roof’s wooden planks, blackened by centuries of smoke, become decorative partitions; scrap wood is burned to heat the water for the daily bath.
That evening bath is more than just a ritual, it is a way of inhabiting time, of giving value to what has been discarded, of reversing the relationship between center and periphery. It is not about nostalgia but about rethinking resources, economies, and the way we inhabit space, unafraid to challenge conventional notions of value and beauty.
Akiya – Kazunori’s Case is a short documentary presented at the 19th Architecture Venice Biennale.
Through the perspective of ceramict artist Kazunori Hamana, the film explores the phenomenon of Akiya, Japan’s increasing number of abandoned rural homes, and their potential for creative reuse.
More than a restoration project, Hamana’s work invites a reconsideration of what it means to inhabit space with slowness, with care, reframing the common meaning of value and beauty.
Curation/Direction: Lucia Filippini, Andrea Terceros Barron
Photogrophy direction: Lino Ono
Subject: Kazunori Hamana