Come along for a beautiful drive in the countryside of Japan. Thanks for following our channel where we cover our traditional Japanese house renovation, Japan travel and rural in living in Japan.
I am an American (of Mexican descent) living and working in Japan. My wife of 32 (plus) years is from Japan. We bought a vacant or empty house “Akiya” in the countryside of Japan near Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture for $35,000 (5 million Yen as of August 2022). The property consists of a 2-story house built in 1975, small guest house, large 2 car garage, storage building, and 3/4 acres of land with many fruit trees.
As very common when purchasing an Akiya in Japan, the personal belongings of the previous owner were still in the house. It took multiple trips to the local recycle center to dispose of all the property.
The grounds were overgrown with many weeds and vines. This will take a while to get under control, but it is looking much better around the property, and I think the neighbors are happy to see us cleaning up.
This traditional Japanese house also features a gorgeous Japanese Garden in much need of cleaning up and bringing it back to its glory. I am still working on the garden, but it already looks stunning under a beautiful maple tree and huge decorative stones.
We performed an extensive renovation in the entire house. We focused on keeping traditional Japanese features such as the engawa, shoji doors, ranma, shikkui, tatami room, but incorporated modern features making a very comfortable house for years to come. Walls, ceilings, floors were insulated. New modern kitchen, toilets and bathroom units were installed. We installed a wood burning cast iron stove (Quadra-Fire, Explorer II). New electrical throughout the entire house and guest house. Double pane windows and doors installed and much more.
#japan #japancountryside #japanesevacanthouse #akiya #traditionaljapanesehouse #ruraljapan #japanesegarden
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyYYQp1L5t4GTOTfs780SA/join
Other videos of our Akiya traditional Japanese house renovation:
https://youtube.com/@cocolenchojapan
Contact:
cocolenchojapan@gmail.com
Social Media:
Instagram: @cocolenchojapan
https://www.instagram.com/cocolenchojapan/?fbclid=IwAR1vdzJZbQd5I1V7kv2ho0Imz2sb6BL_vc5mZq5wd4DJQPVL4SSVBWvDw3A
Facebook:
Coco Lencho Japan
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088736035119
****Recommend using “Chrome” as a browser for Japanese to English translation.****
Akiya Bank for my area near Iwakuni City and Hiroshima City: Miwa Town in Yamaguchi
https://iwakuni-iju.jp/akiyajoho
Miwa Town Information:
https://iwakuni-iju.jp/miwa.html
Dave Olson’s website:
Dave provides many links and information Akiya and Komika purchase.
“Akiya” abandoned, cheap/free* houses in Japan / annotations, resources, riffs, musings, stories
At Akiya Sumai you can search for vacant houses around Japan.
https://akiya.sumai.biz
At Ie Ichiba there is a Bulletin board to search vacant houses / Akiya Houses and old buildings in Japan
https://www.ieichiba.com
Other Useful Links:
https://www.athome.co.jp/
https://www.kurasapo.net/
https://www.koryoya.com/
https://www.homes.co.jp/akiyabank/
http://www.inakanet.jp/index.html
https://www.akiya-athome.jp
3 Comments
Such a exquisite view of nature.
Bro you are sucker for punishment you know your wife is going to point out every driving error you made. Tienes cojones. 🤣
thnx for sharing your journey through the beautiful Japanese countryside ,all the best from scotland ,our countryside roads are just as narrow in the highlands lol ,