Cotswold village for Japan

(First Edition)

AN ARCHITECT is building a Cotswold village at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan.

Yutaka Kondo, 52, has visited Britain more than 40 times and fell in love with the countryside and buildings. He has already built several Tudor-style homes in the resort of Karuizawa, but now plans a Cotswold hamlet.

Mr Kondo hopes to complete five houses by the end of next month and soon after a hotel and restaurant. Cotswold stone, timber, tiles and other materials are being shipped out.

Mike Smithood, an antiques dealer, is co-ordinating the project in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 'Mr Kondo is a great Anglophile. He was very impressed with the Cotswolds and the lovely stone houses. He wanted to recreate the same effect back home in Japan. Because of the risk of earthquakes all the buildings have to have timber frames so the Cotswold stone will form a facade,' he said.