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Contact Strong Fit Center

We welcome enquiries from researchers, visitors, and those passionate about Japanese heritage

Send Us a Message
Get in Touch

Our team is based in Kanazawa and responds to all enquiries within two working days. For urgent matters regarding threatened historic buildings, please call us directly.

Our Spaces

The Bathhouse & Garden

Traditional Ofuro Bath

Traditional ofuro bathroom

Visitors to our Kanazawa office can experience a traditional ofuro bathing space that we maintain as a working example of historic bathroom design — deep cedar tub, mokume wooden walls, and heated stone floor tiles.

Traditional ofuro bath adjacent to the main office

Hinoki Wood Interior

Hinoki cypress wood bath interior

The fragrant hinoki cypress panels of our bathing room were sourced from a forest in Kiso, Nagano — a region famous for producing the finest timber in Japan for nearly a thousand years. The scent of hinoki in hot water is itself a form of cultural heritage.

Hinoki cypress bath panels — Kiso, Nagano timber

Our Home

Our Office

Restored machiya interior serving as the Strong Fit Center office

The Strong Fit Center office occupies a restored machiya townhouse built in the early Meiji era — approximately 1880. The building was in poor condition when we acquired it in 2018 and underwent two years of careful restoration using traditional materials and craftsmen trained in Kanazawa's historic building trades.

The ground floor retains its original doma earthen-floor workspace, now serving as our reception and exhibition space. The upper floor houses our research library — over 3,000 volumes on Japanese architectural history — and our documentation archive.

We deliberately chose to base ourselves in a restored historic building rather than modern premises. Every day working here reinforces our understanding of why these buildings matter: they are not just beautiful objects but fully functional, deeply atmospheric, and irreplaceable places to live and work.

Visitors are welcome by appointment. We ask that you remove shoes at the genkan and handle our collection with care. Tea is always available.

Common Questions

FAQ

Strong Fit Center is an educational and advocacy organisation focused on the documentation, preservation, and public understanding of traditional Japanese architecture. We publish research, produce visual guides, organise volunteer restoration events, and consult with property owners who wish to preserve historic buildings. We do not operate as a real estate agency and do not buy or sell properties.
Yes — we welcome volunteers for hands-on restoration events, documentation surveys, translation projects, and community outreach. Most hands-on events require no prior construction experience; we provide training and supervision. Contact us via the form above selecting "Volunteer" as your subject, and we will send you our current calendar of upcoming events.
We offer free initial consultations for owners of historic buildings facing maintenance challenges, uncertain about designation status, or interested in finding appropriate restoration craftsmen. Select "Restoration Help" in the contact form and describe your situation briefly. We receive many such requests and will connect you with the most relevant member of our team or partner organisation.
We actively seek collaborations with universities, research institutes, and independent scholars working on Japanese architectural history, conservation science, and related disciplines. We can provide access to our documentation archive, facilitate connections with craftsmen and property owners, and in some cases co-author publications. Please select "Research Collaboration" in the contact form and outline your project.
Yes. Strong Fit Center is registered as a Tokutei Hieiri Katsudo Hojin (NPO) under Japanese law, with certification from Ishikawa Prefecture. Our annual accounts and governance reports are available on request. We are funded through membership subscriptions, project grants, publication sales, and donations from individuals and foundations who support our mission.