About the Fuji system house with a steep rafter roof.
The gassho-zukuri( a house with a steep rafter roof) at Kazuma is called kabuto-style or kabuto-zukuri because the shape of its roof is like a kabuto( a warrior's helmet). Kabuto-zukuri has history of 400 years. This prefecture( the old name : Kai) and each Tokyo region had held an active commercial and cultural exchange through a mountain path connecting Yamanashi Pref. to Kazuma(Tokyo) for a long time. A house of the kabuto-zukuri has a floors.The structure of the kabuto-zukuriis combination of timbers with few nails. As the thickness of the roofs is from 60cm to 120cm, it is cool in summer and warm in winter in the houses. Because thatch for roofs is difficult to obtain and it costs a great deal to rethatch roofs, this style of wooden house is now outdated. Our place is encircled by mountains. The temperature is nearly 6 degrees lower than at the center of Tokyo and we feel the cold at dawn even in summer.