The sensation is a bit unnerving and invokes one of the laws of treehouse building: Heights you wouldn’t think twice about in a concrete structure suddenly become imposing when you’re on a branch. Taka, as everyone calls him — or sometimes Koba-san — is Japan’s best-known treehouse builder. He’s built treehouses for affluent Chinese clients and treehouses for preschools — draws for parents anxious about their children’s detachment from nature. The most modest of his structures, he says, is four square feet; the largest, about 270 square feet. He’s sometimes referred to as a “treehouse architect,” but he doesn’t care for the phrase — “architect” connotes not only degrees and building codes but other constraints, too, like permanence.

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Persons: Takashi Kobayashi, He’s, preschools —, ” Organizations: CAN, Treehouse Creations Locations: Tokyo, Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Covid