Help us finish Labyrinth House!

In the kitchen of the second house, 2022

Make direct contributions to help finish the second phase of Onomichi Labyrinth House! Scroll to the bottom to see how much progress we’ve already made. If you haven’t read about Labyrinth House, see this introduction here:

What we're building at Labyrinth House

Current crowdfunding progress (2025/2/1)

We reached our fundraising goal for 2024! Our goal for 2025 is to raise ¥1 million for our phase 3 library and archive.

Illustration by Lili Mossbauer

How to donate

Use one of the following methods to make a direct contribution.

1. One-time credit card donation

Click the button below to make a one-time credit-card payment.

2. Direct bank transfer

In Japan:

SBI新生銀行　新宿支店
普通口座 #0349758
オオタニ　ユウ

(迷宮堂専用口座)

3. Subscribe via Substack (only $80 or above).

Choose the annual subscription for $80 or the third subscription option and change the amount to anything above $80 (No hard feelings if you turn off auto-renew!)

Contributions of any amount you can afford appreciated. If you would like, I can send some of the following items to you after your contribution. This is optional, so please let us know if you would like one.

Tabletop 2025 Cat Calendar

A small tabletop calendar with photography by Labyrinth House chef Tatsuya Domoto [IG], who wandered into the site on one of his daily cat photography walks, and has been part of the team ever since. He has a wonderful eye for capturing cats within the unique landscape of Onomichi.

Original tenugui towel (35 x 90 cm)

A traditional dyed Japanese tenugui towel, with an original illustration by Lili Mossbauer! (Contributions over ¥6,000).

Tenugui, Calendar, Booklet about the project (2026)

Contributors of more than ¥10,000 will also have their names added to a board in the general store! We will also get in touch once we have completed a small booklet about the project in 2026.

Contributor board above the entrance to the library

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Labyrinth House progress

Second house (2022→2023→2024)

The front of the house needed to be demolished and completely rebuilt. Second-floor entry on the right, low-floored shop and event space on the left

The ceiling and tatami of the second floor were replaced first so we’d have a place to sleep (aka camp) during construction.

The bath area had a collapsing roof and was completely rebuilt. The bathroom will have a 30,000 tile bathhouse-style mosaic tile mural of 1930s Onomichi. For real!

The kitchen will have a L-shaped counter and an interior window that connects to the shop space

The six-mat living room sits between the low-floored space and the stone wall behind the house

The front of the house has been completely rebuilt as a low-floored public space

Phase 2 plan

Main house (constructed 2020/11-2022/2)

A second-floor concrete and steel veranda was added in the 1980s

Kitchen designed for social events

Second-floor studio overlooking scenery

Shadow play performance in living room

Presentation in living room

The stairs to the second floor ascend through a two-story space with the exposed stone foundation of the warehouse

Main house during construction

We found incredible structural deficiencies, termite and rain damage after demolition.

Structural reinforcement was added before interiors were rebuilt.

A small portion of the damage we dealt with

We call on our friends to help us with lifting materials, plastering walls, and other tasks

Around 100 people have helped with the project over four years