Thatch: humble yet elegant roofing material in search of a new lease of life May 27 06:34 am JST May 27 | 06:46 am JST TOKYO
In England and Denmark, there are still entire villages of thatched houses. While it is expensive to thatch a roof in those countries, it is not prohibitively so, and the tradition of thatching is very much alive.
In Japan, however, the era of the thatched roof is coming to an end. You can still see examples of thatching on the roofs of a few surviving temples, teahouses, farmhouses and cultural landmarks protected by the government. But the number of full-time professional thatchers still working in Japan can probably be counted on the fingers of two hands.