Such creativity might be manifest in a roof ridge of bleached driftwood on the southern island of Shikoku, or an elaborate bamboo grid securing the thatched roofs of Taketomi Island in Okinawa. In recent times, these extraordinarily dramatic buildings with their thick thatch and breathtakingly dynamic rooflines are less and less in practical use. Their maintenance is costly and time-consuming, and in an era of virtually ubiquitous air conditioning and microwave ovens, materials that are subject to insect infestation and mold, and need constant repairs, have little appeal. Fortunately, many excellent examples of this endangered architectural treasure have been preserved. Some minka have been restored to become restaurants and gift shops.
Many publications make the minka style accessible to an even larger audience.
A fine example of restoration completed by an individual owner in Yufuin, Kyushu, has been documented by Amy Katoh. Today, bamboo salvaged from inside the roofs of old minka enjoys a second life in the hands of contemporary designers and builders. When an ancient minka is torn down, the bamboo is saved for use in decorative architectural elements, or for crafts such as basketry, woven arm and wrist rests for calligraphy, and storage boxes. The surface areas where bamboo poles were originally lashed together remain somewhat lighter in color than the rest, and it is these variations in color, as well as the patina of age and soot, that make susudake so desirable. Open construction allowed the hearth smoke to move easily from the lower level to the upper rafters.