A record of the creation of the wooden Japanese-style trailer "Ocha Tabi-go"
木村徳彦We have created a teahouse camping trailer called "Ocha Tabi®" using traditional Japanese construction methods . It is a camping trailer that can be towed by a passenger car.
I hope to enjoy tea in the beautiful scenery of the four seasons, and to have the opportunity to interact and learn with you all as we embark on an exciting journey exploring the traditional culture of each region .
(September 1, 2023: The woodworking work by Somakosha was completed. Tiny House Japan is now transporting it to their workshop.)
I first became interested in wooden camping trailers when I learned about Mr. Tagami of Tiny House Japan. He is a builder who handcrafts beautiful wooden trailers that are like works of art using solid cedar wood and various other natural materials harvested locally in Oita Prefecture, where his workshop is located.
At first, I was thinking about how we could apply a lifestyle rooted in traditional Japanese techniques and customs to the modern era, and I was instantly attracted to this trailer. After seeing Tiny House Japan's trailer, I wanted to make a shrine-like trailer and travel around Japan someday. After watching a video of Tagami's trailer, I copied it and made the image below.
(The plan is to assemble this building on top of a trailer chassis.)
It is a traditional Japanese house consisting almost entirely of pillars and fixtures. It has a two-tatami mat entrance hall that doubles as a dirt kitchen, a three-tatami mat raised Japanese-style room, and a bathroom at the back.
I decided to visit Mr. Tagami of Tiny House Japan and ask him directly whether it is possible to build such a vehicle and whether it is even possible to drive such a vehicle on public roads.
Among them is a young and skilled master carpenter named Yamamoto from Somakosha in Okayama Prefecture. If he can do his best, Tagami will also accept the job and cooperate.
I immediately made an appointment with Mr. Tagami, and flew to Okayama Prefecture to meet with him at the Yamamoto Building. When I explained my plan to Mr. Yamamoto, he showed interest and we were able to get approval in almost two stages .
Next, with the help of two incredibly skilled craftsmen, my dream began to move towards becoming a reality.
First, Mr. Ta revised the layout based on my design. The interior remained purely Japanese, but the exterior was redesigned with a sophisticated look that is characteristic of Tiny House Japan. We also used the finest wood from Oita Prefecture, including rare cedar wood called Akamasa, which can only be harvested from a single cedar tree.
Under the design and supervision of Mr. Tagami, Somakosha carefully created the basic structure, exterior walls, interior, fixtures, furniture, etc.
The trailer was expected to be completed in about three months, two months for Somakosha and one month for Tiny House Japan. However, it actually took about a year from the time the contract was signed to drying the wood, another two years for marking and carving the wood after the blueprints were completed, and another six months or more to assemble the structure, the interior, and to install the fixtures and furniture.
Although the structure is simple, it is a Japanese-style building, and in order to ensure sufficient strength, it was made with very expensive and time-consuming timber frameworks, which took a lot of time and effort. 
Regarding the extremely unique job of building vehicles that will run on public roads, the employees said, "It's a continuous process of constant work, but I enjoy it," and "It's the ultimate fulfillment of my career as a carpenter." With the help of Master Yamamoto, a first-class architect, the employees took safety into consideration and assembled the vehicle with great resolve, ensuring that it would not flinch even while it was running on public roads.
Thank you very much to everyone at Somakosha.
Tiny members carved into complex shapes never seen before are broken apart without even a moment's misalignment and then assembled onto the trailer chassis.
Although one of the members' tiny houses may be small, the amount of work required is not much different from building an entire house. "It's a job that can be called Somakosha," says Tagawa of Tiny House. 
The state of the building in late May 2023. It is such a beautiful finish that it would be a shame to cover it with an exterior wall.
After discussing with everyone what to do with the exterior walls, we decided to leave them unpainted and unvarnished. At first, dirt would be quite noticeable, but we hope to enjoy the changes that occur over time and let them grow for a long time to come.
There are many wooden buildings that do not fade even after a long time. If you take good care of this trailer, I'm sure you will do the same. I think it would be wonderful if it could be passed down from parent to child, and from child to grandchild for generations to come.
On the recommendation of Master Yamamoto, we had tatami mats from Yokoyama Tatami in Kyoto installed. Once the tatami mats were installed, the room became much more interesting. I don't have any training in the tea ceremony, but this would be wonderful for a tea ceremony. Thank you, Yokoyama Tatami, for making such a wonderful tatami mat .
Similarly, at the suggestion of the master carpenter, the interior walls were made into shoji (paper screen) walls. He quickly gave up and made a paper wall. Thanks to this, it became very light. He had fun pasting various types of washi paper on it along the way. 
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Viewed from the front, the kitchen is on the right and the customer service counter on the left, with a raised Japanese-style room beyond.
Viewed from the side, the Japanese-style room offers a relaxing atmosphere while looking out at nature.
A removable shelf was also provided to complement the Japanese-style room. You can display your artwork on the shelf and use it as a gallery. 
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Somakosha began construction in January of the same year and spent an astonishing nine months completing the project. 
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To everyone at Somakosha, we asked you to do a very difficult job this time, but you worked so hard to produce a beautiful, flawless job with such care, and we cannot thank you enough.
We hope you will treat this "Tea Journey" as a treasure entrusted to you by all of us, and use it with care for many years to come.
First, we transported it to Tiny House Japan's workshop in Oita Prefecture, where they carried out waterproofing work, installed water supply and drainage systems, installed fittings for the doors and windows, and carried out procedures such as vehicle inspection registration.
The trailer was finally completed on January 27, 2024, and delivered to our home in Shizuoka.
The trailer is usually kept at Kimuraen's home and office.
If you are interested, please come and see it!
On February 12, 2024, I went out for my first drive after taking delivery of the car. The destination was Fukuda Fishing Port, about 15 minutes away by car. 
We visited the beach where many people gathered.
It had been raining a lot and we couldn't go anywhere, but the weather was nice that day and we were able to see the beautiful ocean.
The view of the ocean from the Japanese-style room is amazing.
I look forward to the day when we can welcome guests to this tea room and enjoy tea with them.
There are a few more preparations you need to make before you can open your store.
We are a tea shop in Shizuoka, so we are thinking of using this to operate as a tea shop, but we are still feeling our way around what other uses it can have.
If you have any requests, such as wanting to use the space for a tea ceremony, renting it out as a gallery, or holding a game of shogi here, please feel free to contact us .
We would like to provide various information from the following!