If you try searching for an architecture internship in Japan, most searches will lead you to an Architecture office or developer in Tokyo.
This is what I discovered whilst trying to find work, a couple weeks after graduating from university. Internships in Japan have a different culture to Australia. Often called ‘open desks’, students will work at a firm for 2 weeks during holidays, usually for free. Whilst it is convenient for local students, a graduate like me with no money would find it hard to support themselves for that period, especially in Tokyo where living costs are high. But, I do remember finding just one page; ‘Kominka Homestay’ nestled among Tokyo’s long list of architecture offices; a farm-house homestay architecture internship?
I sent an email with my portfolio to the studio, ‘Esumi Atelier’, and if I could stay and work for them in early 2026. Suprisingly, I recieved a response within a week from the owner, Esumi さん. He wrote: ‘You can stay and work for me for 2 weeks in March, feel free to stay at the Kominka when there are no guests’. There was also a note at the bottom of the email: ‘I have been to Melbourne 3 times before, they have very delicious coffee’.
That’s it? I thought. It seemed really casual.
I contacted Esumiさん again in January to confirm my stay in the middle of March for 2 weeks. He sent me another email: ‘I’ll pick you up from the station at 5pm on the 8th of March’ and that was the last communication we had until the internship.
I had been travelling around Asia before the internship started, taking a series of one way flights to Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. So I arrived to Izumo with a suitcase and after being away from home for a month. Izumo is a city in Shimane Prefecture, on the West coast of Japan. It’s a really isolated area from Japan’s main cities, and I had taken an 8 hour highway bus from Osaka to get there a few days earlier.
Naturally, I was a bit worried about the internship at this rural cottage which I had organised 2 months ago. I arrived to the station and bought a gift bag to place the coffee I had brought over from Melbourne. To my relief, he was waiting at the station for me.
We drove about 15 minutes into the countryside.
Izumo is a small city, so the buildings became qucikly houses and the houses became rice fields. During the drive, Esumi さん spoke to me in broken English, and I tried to remember how to speak keigo (敬語); we both struggled using languages we had long forgotten. He told me he had visited Melbourne 3 times to see his daughter who lived there and appreciated the coffee scene, I told him about my recent travels to Singapore and Vietnam. We soon found out we had a shared joy of travelling and coffee.
Esumiさん also explained to me the story of his studio. He bought an abandoned house (空き家) around 10 years ago to create an airbnb with his office located inside. The Kominka has come to be a shared space between architects and airbnb guests, where he gets to interact with a variety of people from Japan and around the world.
We arrived at the kominka/ office which was sitting in a cluster of farm houses in front to a large tree-covered mountain. It was already dark when we got there. Esumiさん brought me through the entrance into the doma (土間), a wet space within the house, where he went around the room and turned on a series of individual lights and lamps. The kitchen, dining and living spaces was slowly illuminated by the sporadically placed lights, revealling an old timber structure.
Warm. That was the best way to describe it.
Esumiさん had renovated the former farm house structure which was over 100 years old. There was an extension to the house and addition modern appliances to serve as an airbnb, however the traditional charm of the building was very much preserved.
He gave me a tour of the kitchen, dining spaces, carefully showing me how to start the fire to heat up the cold interior. We went through the tatami rooms and external corridoor (縁側). Esumiさん pointed out to me where the original beams of the house still stood and where new structure had been introduced. There was also a separated cottage hut (草房) with a guest room which he proudly showed me. I was finally brought to the Architecture office, located in a room connected to the dining space. I’ll see you here for work tomorrow, he declared, and soon left for home, leaving me to process the amazing building I had been left alone in. It felt like a dream.
As soon as he left, I realised how hungry I was.
I had picked up some basic food on the way to the kominka – an assortment of instant curry and noodles, fresh bread and mandarins. It was enough for a day but I was hoping to pick up some proper ingredients and cook for the rest of the week. I cooked up some rice and heated up my instant curry. The cottage had no insulation so it had suddenly dropped in temperature, I ate next to the fireplace.
After eating, I properly toured the house, checking each of the different rooms carefully. Despite the abundance of lights throughout the house, it was still relatively dark in most rooms and hard to make out the details of the interior completely, I would look again tomorrow.
Esumiさん had brought out a futon for me in the tatami room. However, the airbnb could fit up to 6 guests, so it felt odd placing my bedding in the middle of the large space. I unpacked my suitcase which I had dragged through 3 different countries up until now. After so much travelling, it felt weird knowing I would be working tomorrow. It felt like my holiday had suddenly been interrupted by an urgent uni assignment.
I was pretty exhausted, and fell asleep quickly.
