I love watching others do the work as well in my spare time 🤣 The visa issue is a tricky one. Longer term visas are possible (3 years) , but to my knowledge, not like a retirement visa which I have seen in Indonesia or elsewhere.

Great idea. I've seen something like that as well! I'll give it a try as I like the idea of using a rope system much better than climbing on that roof myself. It would be a big fall!

I wonder how effective a propane flamethrower would be too…

@@RectanerTreadway Eamon, how old are you? 13?

Thank you!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I was wondering if anyone would even be interested in seeing it. :) There is a lot of beauty to be had in snow country even if partially buried !

@@EricJMcA Well I am guessing it is hard work! Especially when the snow just falls heavy again the next day. 😭. But I live in Australia, in a city that never ever sees snow. So I love, love, love to see that much snow! It's beyond beautiful (even if it is a lot of work to manage in reality). Japan, I have visited, and I only wish I could be there again. I can live vicariously through you until hopefully sometime in the future I can too be there. Thank you.

@@daRich_X It is beautiful and a lot of work. don't worry, I'll keep it coming! Before this I've spent the last 8 years living in remote Indonesia... no snow in sight, ... so i totally get what you mean about loving to see it. Winter has always been my favourite season to visit japan, and highly recommend it if possible! Thank you so much for messaging and making this a rewarding video.

@@EricJMcA awesome videos! I wasn't bombarded by ads either. I wish you were more open about what you paid for the house, etc Especially if you're doing videos on purchasing a house etc. To me, that was a bit ridiculous. Instead we had to play a guessing game? 🤔 I'm from Canada too. You're so very blessed to be able to live there. Loving the reno videos!

My pleasure!

Thank you! I have a whole bunch more coming soon :)

Thank you! I'll keep them coming!

all in good time. i've been looking at all the options. next year for sure. the question is how many horse power 😂

Yep. I wonder if it’s possible to put radiate heating on roofs and driveways like people do in bathrooms.

@@jmcneil4891 my house does have a system like that actually, it's kerosene heated, but apparently to be functional needs to be turned on all season. If you miss a storm, then it just creates a cavern on the roof as there's only like 3-4 lines.

I plan to move there half time very soon, and then hope to make that full time in the coming years as my kids hit school age. With an extended family around the globe, we will be back and forth, but this will be home base.

I think I'll have a better solution for next year!

The old roof has no issue, snow slides right off. The issue is the 1979 install where they have a kerosene snow melt system, but the snow doesn't slide off.

It's hard to find a single website because they are all independently managed, per municipality, by government workers... So there's no central system it seems, that I've been able to find. So it's really finding where you want to live first then in which house is there. Cheaphousesjapan is a person on Instagram who accumulates data on some akiya houses!

A full day at the big hill is roughly $50 US, half day is about $30 (and so long as you don't take the gondola in the afternoon you can ride the upper chairlifts as long as you want.... sorry, that's the cheap Scottish side of me getting the best deal). Gear is about $25 for the day, and clothing (if needed) would be about $25 as well. Other local hills are a bit cheaper and also worth checking out because they are also tonnes of fun. The food on the mountain is insanely good too. There are no real lines for lifts either (gondola in the morning a few minutes for first runs... like maybe 10)... and then a couple minutes here and there for chairlifts. Nothing like in Canada where i waited 1.5 hours for a gondola once.

@@EricJMcA Japan is awesome for riding that is for sure!

I'll plan to get one in the future. It will take years... But all in time!

I have had a business visa in the past. Otherwise tourist. Working on a management visa soon. I just published a video on this :)

I've travelled through kagoshima, visited the hot springs there, but that's about it. To become a farmer in Japan you have to be certified and pass exams... In Japanese of course. So any farm is therefore a professional farm, which makes it even more of a challenge.

Owning a house doesn't lead to a visa. most of the usual visas which I've seen are work visas where the employer sponsors you... a student visa where you study Japanese or other subject 20+ hours a week and the school sponsors you, or start your own business, move there, and find a way to create something that works coming in as either a manager or director (this isn't easy or cheap, but is an option if you have a good business idea and want to do something in japan... but it has to be a real business, not a paper business like some countries, with employees , etc).

@@EricJMcA What type of career are you in? Just wondering if that will make it easier to get a visa and if so others might be in a similar field.

@@nipponmichael2936 I used to be in defence contract management, but i left that about a decade ago to build a scuba diving resort in Indonesia. There's not much scuba diving in snow country here, but we will see what the next adventure brings!

Sorry I missed this comment. I definitely do see myself there... But all in time. Planned to move already but now it seems a few years out. For now it will be part time back and forth between Indonesia and Japan.

@@EricJMcA cool, good luck!

I'm in a village short drive down the valley away :)

i'll probably work towards it eventually, but no rush just yet. I'm looking at starting a business so would change over to management visa.

100% I wish I had real snow ducklings. 🤣

In Nagano!