Yes I am glad he is willing to invest his time & energy in these old homes and the local community!

Thank you Devin for letting me know! I wasn't familiar with the term out house. Yes, toilets for kyo-machiya were usually outside of the main house back in the day.

Thank you! He lived in Canada for quite some years actually. When I visit him next time I'll do some interviews on his background & story of buying this Kominka :)

@@GoodOldHousesJapan Great idea!

Thank you! I will let Ichiro-san know about your compliment...!

Thank you! Yes he has a beautiful garden!

Hi Marion, yes please let me know when you are here in Japan! Happy to meet and help.

Yes I will try to visit his place from time to time!

Yes will do!

Yes Ichiro has made a good choice taking over this Kominka. Excited to see it being brought back to life in a year or two...!

Thank you Rodelyn! I'm glad Ichiro-san took on the challenge as well.

Thank you Mark. It already looks very charming but I'm sure it'll be even better with some repairs.

Thank you! He has lived in Canada for quite a long time actually.

Thank you Dan! If you plan to visit him, send me an email and I can send over his address/contact. He is not far away from Hikone city.

Thank you. It won't be a complete make-over, but he will be doing the renovation at his own pace.

Thank you! Renting a room as renting a room at his Kominka? Anyway yes I think he has enough rooms to welcome a few guests 😂

I am glad the house is in good hands now before it deteriorates even more!

Hi Andrew, yes it'll be a long project... His place is not far away from Hikone city. If you are around, send me an email and I can send over his address/contact.

@@GoodOldHousesJapan I appreciate that - however I'm in England 👍😊

Thank you. Yes, and great view of the neighborhood as well :)

The kitchen area is always quite disastrous for these old Kominka houses 😂

@@GoodOldHousesJapan Mine has what I call the "potato chip floor," which is made up of brittle half-inch plywood that can support hardly anything. This is the same flooring that was used in my 2nd kura, which looks like it was used as a type of living quarters or guesthouse. Do you have any idea why the cheap, weak, "spongy" type plywood was used so much in many of these houses? It isn't good from the start, plus it doesn't last long! Very dangerous -- I fell through the floor of my kura during my first ever visit to the house and got scratched up. Luckily there was no major damage, but it could've easily been much worse.

Yes it was a nice neighbourhood. I don't think there are any modern uses for pit toilets... not sure what Ichiro-san wants to do with them, but will be good to have them cleaned at least.

I am planning to renovate as gazebo and will enjoy having a cup of tea looking at garden:)

Thank you!

It really depends on a person's standard of "living conditions". For old traditional houses, it's safe to budget at least 5mil yen just to renew all the kitchen/toilet/bathroom + some cosmetic work.

No, he doesn't (yet). The house is likely around 90-100 years old.

Yes I will do to the flush toilet of course:)

I think he is actually happy to have extra hands if you are interested...!

Sure you are very welcome.

@@ichirosekihara8985 I shall reach out to you?

Yes there's no problem for any foreigner to buy a house in Japan.

Hi please send me a mail at info@koryoya.com and let me know how I can help.

He won't be doing a full-scale renovation. It's mostly basic repair and lots of cleaning...!! For the roof part, he had to ask professionals.

@@GoodOldHousesJapan ooh ! thanks for the reply 🙌

Yes, Ichiro has a very nice beard!

Shaved now:)

For some reason, it's quite rare to find Japanese people that understands/believes in Fengshui.

People lives there quietly.