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

Other videos of our Akiya traditional Japanese house renovation:
youtube.com/@cocolenchojapan


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