A home is one of the biggest purchases you will make in your life. Many people are sure to have particular requirements they are unwilling to compromise on when building a home.
Kuramoku Homes Co., Ltd. (hereafter, “Kuramoku Homes”), located in Nakashima, Kurashiki City, is a homebuilder that creates fully custom-built homes.
It also builds “Passive Houses,” considered the world’s highest-performance homes. There are many homebuilders in Japan, but apparently only a limited number can build Passive Houses.
What exactly makes the work of Kuramoku Homes, which is committed to building high-performance homes, so appealing?
We spoke with Akada Reiji, a young employee at Kuramoku Homes, about what makes the company appealing and what he finds rewarding about his work.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About Kuramoku Homes Co., Ltd.
Kuramoku Homes Co., Ltd. is a homebuilder that builds new homes and carries out renovations mainly in Kurashiki City, as well as in Okayama and Hiroshima.
It operated for many years as the housing division of Kurashiki Mokuzai Co., Ltd., founded in 1907, and Kuramoku Homes was established when the division became an independent company in 2023.
Drawing on the expertise of a long-established lumber company, it builds highly airtight and well-insulated wooden homes that enrich everyday life.
What is the “Passive House,” the world’s highest-performance home built by Kuramoku Homes?
Kuramoku Homes’ greatest distinction is its ability to build Passive Houses that meet the world’s highest energy-efficiency standards.
Built using lumber and insulation suited to the local climate, as well as high-performance windows and ventilation systems, Passive Houses make effective use of sunlight, allowing residents to stay warm in winter and cool and comfortable in summer.
Kuramoku Homes has a certified Passive House consultant on staff. There are only a few such consultants in Japan, and apparently this person is the only one in Okayama Prefecture.
Of course, not every customer builds a Passive House, but Kuramoku Homes’ ability to build homes with performance on par with Passive Houses is also one of its strengths.
The company has previously won the Eco House Award’s Grand Prize and was also the first in Okayama Prefecture to receive the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Long-Life Quality Housing certification.
Akada Reiji, who recommends comfortable homebuilding
Our interviewee was Akada Reiji, who works in sales at Kuramoku Homes. Born in 2003, he is from Wake Town, Wake District, Okayama Prefecture.
Akada loved making things from childhood and became interested in architecture in his second year of junior high school. He says that taking part in a workshop held by an acquaintance who was a first-class architect, where he designed a floor plan and built a model of a building, inspired him to pursue architecture.
After graduating from junior high school, he enrolled in the architecture program at Okayama Prefectural Okayama Technical High School, then went on to a vocational school specializing in architecture, joining Kuramoku Homes as a new graduate in 2024.
Speaking about what he finds interesting about architecture, Akada told us, “Architecture is a form of making things where you can design freely. It’s fun to see something I imagined become the foundation of someone’s life and enrich their everyday living.”
About Akada’s work
Akada’s main responsibilities are public relations and sales of new homes.
In public relations, he mainly shares information about events such as open-house tours on Instagram, YouTube, and the company website. He is also responsible for creating images for promotional use and accompanying the company’s partner photographer on shoots.
He began working in sales in April 2025, his second year with the company.
That’s because, during his first year, he accompanied a site supervisor to learn the fundamentals of how Kuramoku Homes builds houses. He gained hands-on experience with homebuilding at various sites, helping tradespeople and carpenters.
After a year of on-site training, he finally began working in sales. Akada explains the appeal of Kuramoku Homes’ homebuilding to customers, proposes designs for new homes, and handles the process through to signing the final contract.
Currently, he accompanies senior colleagues to learn sales techniques while also working on CAD drawings and administrative tasks such as preparing contracts and estimates.
A senior colleague checks the drawings he creates in CAD, and Akada told us, “I’m really happy when I get the OK without needing to make any revisions.”
How he came to join Kuramoku Homes
Akada loved making things and had been set on a career in architecture since childhood.
During his job search, he found a homebuilder he was interested in, but it wasn’t hiring new graduates.
However, that homebuilder introduced him to Kuramoku Homes. Akada says he never expected a company to introduce him to a competitor through its industry connections.
He later learned that Kuramoku Homes built high-performance homes and attended an information session and an open-house tour during the lingering summer heat. At that point, he still didn’t know about Passive Houses.
Then, the moment he stepped inside a Passive House during the tour, he was amazed by how cool it felt—unlike any indoor space in summer.
After experiencing its comfort firsthand, Akada thought, “I want to build a house like this myself!” He was also drawn to the warm atmosphere among the employees and decided to join Kuramoku Homes.
What does Akada see as appealing about Kuramoku Homes?
Akada says that what he finds appealing about Kuramoku Homes is its “strong commitment to continually improving in order to build high-quality homes.”
The company already builds homes with excellent performance, but apparently it undertakes a variety of internal initiatives, including training and meetings, to further improve quality.
At the weekly sales meetings, employees actively share ideas, such as “What do you think about incorporating this kind of design?” and “Could we improve performance by using this material?” They spare no effort in providing a better quality of life. They also sometimes invite outside speakers.
Training sessions and study meetings are also held regularly. Employees learn about equipment at Panasonic training sessions and visit high-performance homes on Awaji Island together. Kuramoku Homes offers many opportunities to learn.
When we asked Akada, “It sounds like an environment where you can really immerse yourself in learning,” he smiled and replied, “There’s so much to learn that I’m doing my best just to keep up, but I feel fulfilled at work, and this environment is part of that.”
Akada joined Kuramoku Homes in 2024, making 2025 his second year with the company. We asked him about what he enjoys in his current role and the challenges he faced during his first year, along with other stories unique to a young employee.
Kuramoku Homes Co., Ltd. data
| Organization name | Kuramoku Homes Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Design and construction of highly airtight and well-insulated homes, renovations, real estate brokerage, etc. |
| Representative | Miyake Hiroshi |
| Year established | 2023 |
| Address | 999-1 Nakashima, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-465-7700 |
| Website | Kuramoku Homes website |
What would you like to know about Kurashiki?
Enter a word to search articles on this site
