Table of Contents

Dedication
Preface
Tribute to My Master

1. Why I Became a Thatcher
1-1 What Inspired Me to Become a Thatcher
1-2 Stepping Into the World of Thatching
1-3 A Forty-Year Gap in Thatching Generations
1-4 A Drifting Childhood and the Emptiness of My Teenage Years
1-5 My University Days in the Athletic Club: Breaking Limits
1-6 Enlightenment in the Bathroom
1-7 Column: Rural People—Descendants of Investor Communities

2. Breakdown, Career Change, and a Nationwide Apprenticeship Journey
2-1 Making a Living Selling Roasted Sweet Potatoes in Winter
2-2 The Roasted Sweet Potato Stand: A School of Business
2-3 Apprenticeship in the UK: A Journey of Discovery
2-4 Breakdown, Career Change, and a Nationwide Apprenticeship Journey
2-5 Legends of Japan’s Master Thatchers
2-6 Founding a Thatching Company
2-7 A Mysterious Experience and the Voice of Destiny

3. The Message Thatching Conveys to the Modern World
3-1 What Is “Kaya”? A Message of Timelessness
3-2 What’s So Great About Thatched Roofs?
3-3 How Have Thatched Roofs Been Maintained?
3-4 A Global Thatching Boom
3-5 Why Are Thatched Roofs Disappearing in Japan?
3-6 Column: “No Thatch, No Thatchers” — A Modern-Day Excuse

4. Making Thatched Houses Something Everyone Can Share
4-1 The Beginning of “Miyama FUTON & Breakfast”
4-2 Making Thatched Houses Something Everyone Can Share
4-3 Thatched Houses Preserved by the Public
4-4 Column: Tourism as an Industry that Creates Unity and Peace

Afterword