National Lecture and 2025/26 AGM

This Zoom meeting starts promptly at 10am with the 2026 Annual General Meeting. This is an opportunity for members to learn about JGS’s activities during 2025/6 and for them to shape the Society’s future. The 2026 JGS National Lecture follows immediately after this business meeting.

National Lecture – Japanese folk houses and their landscape
James Irvine from Kominka UK will explore the craft, materials and cultural landscape of traditional Japanese timber buildings, and the relationships between architecture, place and their safekeeping.

Kominka UK (www.kominka.co.uk ) is building bridges between Japan and the United Kingdom through traditional architecture, craftsmanship and cultural exchange. From rural farmhouses to shrines and temple gates, Japanese timber buildings embody centuries of accumulated knowledge, careful stewardship and extraordinary skill. They are more than historic structures – they are living expressions of culture and place.

Working alongside our partners in Japan (www.kominkacollective.com), we believe traditional buildings have much to teach us about sustainability, craftsmanship and our relationship with the natural world. In some cases, our work includes the careful dismantling and relocation of buildings, allowing them to begin a new chapter while honouring their original story.