It’s a late March afternoon, and the mountains of Japan are awakening to spring as Rob dozes in his living room. The soft-spoken Englishman hails from a small town on Great Britain’s southern coast, and after living abroad for nearly three decades, he has finally found a place to put down permanent roots with his wife, Junko, who is originally from Okayama. The home, with its sprawling glass surfaces and sharp angles, could feel out of place this deep in the woods, but nature doesn’t seem to mind. A pack of wild macaques arrives to clamber over heaps of firewood, and their cries enter the house via an open kitchen window. The monkeys can see the family going about their daily life indoors, but they remain unfazed. This house is a besso, a Japanese term for a countryside vacation home. Rob and Junko found their architect, reimitsui, a former associate of Shigeru Ban, in a uniquely Japanese way. Junko met him at a formal tea ceremony, and they bonded over their love for traditional cultu...