Green Approaches to Japanese Woodworking and Bath Culture

Join us for a discussion on sustainability that bridges craft, ecology, and design across cultures. This webinar will feature a Japanese architect specializing in traditional carpentry, in conversation with a New England regenerative farmer and a Pakistani expert in sustainable infrastructure. Together, they will dive into the shared philosophies and distinct approaches that guide their work, revealing how time-honored techniques and modern innovations can coexist to nurture more sustainable futures. They will also discuss how their respective disciplines are converging at OnsenKoguma, an exciting project to create an authentic bathhouse in rural Vermont that is both rooted in Japanese tradition and unique to its New England environment.

Free and open to the public (pre-registration required)

Kohei Yamamoto – Panelist

Kohei Yamamoto is a 1st Class Licensed Architect and Carpenter and the founder of Somakosha, a traditional Japanese carpentry firm based in Okayama, Japan. Before founding Somakosha, Yamamoto worked on many famous temples and shrines—including the Grand Shrine at Izumo, one of only two Grand Shrines in Japan. He is one of the first carpenters to re-introduce the traditional ishibatate style of construction to the modern era. He is an expert in traditional hand tools and joinery techniques, and educates students and apprentices from around the world at the Somakosha School.

Matthew Dami – Panelist

Matthew Dami is a regenerative agriculture expert and permaculture educator with over 11 years of hands-on farming experience across four continents. Dami currently operates Winterfound Forest Farm in Woodstock, Vermont, where he has transformed 140 acres of derelict farmland into a thriving regenerative showcase and actively hosts educational programs for the broader community. With a Master's degree in Biology, Dami combines scientific knowledge with practical agricultural wisdom to develop innovative farming systems.

Sami Ullah Khan Babar – Panelist

Sami Ullah Khan Babar has engineered water infrastructure serving 250,000+ people in Pakistan's frontier regions, managing multi-million dollar projects funded by the World Bank. He leverages expertise in solar-powered water systems, mineral chemistry, climate-resilient design, and sustainable urban development, and actively engages in advocacy and capacity-building to support communities. He currently serves as Provincial Planning Officer for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa overseeing sustainable infrastructure development.

Demi Fang – Moderator

Demi Fang is Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s School of Architecture and holds a PhD in Building Technology from MIT. Fang teaches structures to architecture students at Northeastern and conducts research related to mitigating environmental impacts in early-stage building design. As a 2022 Summer Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), she conducted and published a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a hundred-year-old house in Japan and its conversion to a chair museum. Fang also chaired the “Craft, Tools, and Transmission” roundtable at the “Is Ise Circular?” symposium at Princeton University in 2024, facilitating discussion on opportunities between technology and craft in Japanese traditional carpentry. Outside of teaching and research, Fang actively contributes to industry initiatives to mitigate embodied carbon in buildings.

Presented by the Japan Society of Boston in partnership with Koguma Benefit Corp.