Japan copies Beatrix Potter home

The Japanese are said to be great Peter Rabbit fans

The former Lakeland home of the author of Peter Rabbit has been recreated brick-for-brick in Japan.

Beatrix Potter used the money earned from the sale of her children's classic, to buy Hill Top Farm in Sawrey, Cumbria in 1903.

A full-size replica has now been built at a children's zoo near Tokyo.

Despite the popularity of Potter's books in Japan, less is known about the author and it is hoped the recreation of the farm will redress the balance.

'Earthquake proof'

George Wallace, a university professor teaching English literature in Tokyo, has seen both the original and the copy.

He said: "It is an almost exact replica, although it does not have the aged look of the original.

"And buildings in Japan have to be earthquake-proof, so there are one or two small changes."

Richard Foster, who runs The World of Beatrix Potter in Bowness on Windermere, and is chairman of Cumbria's Japan Forum, said it was a good link to the area.

"It's a little bastion of the Lake District out in Japan.

"A nice, light-hearted place for people to go and sample Britain, and in particular, the Lake District."