YASABI is an association based in a thatched farmhouse at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba, exploring a present-day relationship between people and the satoyama: the woods, fields and waterways that surround Japan's rural villages.

In the Kamiaoyagi district, where we are based, we observe the character of each piece of land, from rice paddies and wetlands to bamboo groves, forests, houses and gardens, and tend it while thinking about uses that fit how people live today. The bamboo, thatch grass and sawmill offcuts that come out of this work become materials for our own spatial design and products.