TOKYO -- Born in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, Yuichi Ishikura, 32, relocated to Kyoto with his mother when he was a junior high school student. While studying at university in the U.S., he was immensely attracted to a particular guesthouse he had stayed at, which became his source of inspiration to begin refurbishing old machiya back in Kyoto into cozy guest villas.
Machiya are traditional wooden townhouses with layouts that allow residents to carry out both daily life and business in the same building. They were built all over Japan, but many remain in Kyoto, where the architecture is preserved.
