Back to buildersDesigns and builds timber architecture that draws on the character of the wood; not a tea-room specialist.
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Source: sobokuya.com
A timber-architecture company headquartered in Hokuto, Yamanashi, with a design office in Nezu, Tokyo. Under the motto "Unfolding with nature," it reads the character of local trees and builds with living wood for homes and fittings.
It handles everything in-house from design to construction, and also works in forestry. Its work spans houses, timber facilities, shops, restoration of old houses and renovations, and it has bases in Vietnam and Dubai. Its website is in both Japanese and English.
In Nezu it ran the tea house SOCHA next to its design office, and announced its closure in July 2026. It is not a tea-room specialist, but suits those who want a Japanese building made from scratch that brings out the character of the wood.
A 47.1 m² timber shrine office. Ornament is kept to a minimum to show the materials, and large windows on all sides bring light and breeze onto the tatami. Its inspiration is the sumo ring at Mizuwakasu Shrine on Oki, with four outward-leaning posts and a roof. Listed with X-Knowledge, TECTURE and WAF2026.
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The private home (182 m²) built by Sobokuya's founder Hisashi Imai himself. Details such as cypress-bark walls and the entrance stepping stone carry a wabi-sabi feel; the company describes it as its starting point.
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A small study-and-storage hut (19.9 m²) beside the main house, with mortar walls and a kokerabuki (wood-shingle) roof. Window heights and widths were set carefully to protect books; it has built-in shelves and storage.
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A roughly 200-year-old farmhouse divided into a home and an Italian restaurant (250 m²). The darkened beams and earthen floor were kept, and the single-slab keyaki table is joined with traditional butterfly keys (chigiri).
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A home (284.86 m²) with large wooden doors opening fully to the garden, a staircase on a curved taiko beam, African moabi in the kitchen, and black cherry, chestnut and walnut elsewhere.
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A home for four generations (162 m²) with a slide and mezzanine play area for grandchildren, step-free living for the grandmother and a taiko beam across the open ceiling, finished with local timber, lime plaster and solid-wood furniture.
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A home (79.47 m²) with a steep 50-degree roof modelled on gasshō-zukuri to shed snow and leaves, a large kitchen and wood stove at its centre, and deep eaves to temper light.
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Sobokuya's design atelier (66.1 m²) at the southern foot of Yatsugatake; a round window at the entrance frames Mt Fuji and a large south opening brings in light and air.
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A column-free timber office (70.4 m²). Local red pine taiko beams and W-beams in traditional nuki joinery span the space, lit by skylights. Built under a woman master carpenter.
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A 317 m² column-free sawmill building supported by red-pine log beams, W-beams and struts, lit by skylights, with a custom iron gate at the entrance.
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A two-storey silk-weaving atelier (69 m²) linked to the main house by a deck, housing two looms.
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A 33 m² mountain retreat shared by two sisters, with red-pine beams, diatomaceous-earth walls and a wood stove, built with full timber-frame construction despite its size.
View on official site ↗Photos: Sobokuya official website
Sobokuya's process starts by walking the land to read wind and sun, then choosing and felling trees from the mountain. Logs go to trusted sawyers who bring out the wood's strength without over-cutting.
Carpenters then hand-cut the timber with chisels and planes and raise it piece by piece. Many case studies show local red-pine log and taiko beams and column-free spaces built with traditional nuki joinery.
Case studies are grouped as homes, wooden facilities (a shrine office, a sawmill, a stable and more), shops, restoration of traditional houses, and renovations, centred on Hokuto, Yamanashi, with others in Nagano and Tokyo.
Photos: Sobokuya official website
| Company | SOBOKUYA Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Address | 1878 Nishiide, Oizumi-cho, Hokuto, Yamanashi (head office) |
| Representative | Hisashi Imai, President |
| Offices | Design office in Nezu (Bunkyo, Tokyo); Vietnam; Dubai |
| Business | Design and construction of timber architecture, forestry, food and retail |
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