Early next year i plan to expand my rural Japan cafe to include rescuing stray cats in my area to turn it into a unique Cat Cafe. Any help is very much appreciated. www.buymeacoffee.com/realruraljapan

I lived in Japan for 15 years and I found that most of the pretentious foreigners I met were younger people who often thought they knew a lot about the country without having experienced much. It sounds like you have met some people who want to maintain the traditional culture rather than look at how pragmatic that way is these days. Most of the foreigners I know, who have lived in Japan for a long period of time, are nothing like those you have described. Maybe it's just the 'old house reno' group? Japan is changing and the old ways of doing things are slowly fading. I'd say it's nice to try and maintain the old, traditional ways of doing things but it can't be totally justified these days.

That mentality is everywhere. Your example about horses and rubber tires is spot on. People that have never grown any kind of food telling farmers that they should only grow organically. Or, those that love deer in the yard, but don't have a garden. And generally are insufferable regarding telling other people how they should live.

You’ve got two types of people who live in Japan. People whose personality is “I live in Japan”, then you have just another person. People get so caught up in Japan being different that they show off Japan and not just their life. To me, it’s cool to show off Japan, but at the same time it’s like “We get it! You live in Japan! You have that life. That’s cool and all, but I wanna be able to see myself in your shoes instead of always feeling like I’m never getting there because of how different your life is from mine.” People talk about the success so much and never talk about the things people really connect with, and that’s being down, coming up. People never talk about how people really deal with current issues they’re experiencing even in Japan, and it just always feels like I can’t see myself experiencing the world the same way that you enjoy it. There’s ups and downs in life, and I just want to see people really experience life the same way I do even at “success” because were all human and have our good and bad days.

There used to be an absolute nutcase in Kyoto, a blond Canadian guy dressed in a Kimono, who would harangue other gaijin in the street if he felt they were disrupting the "wa". He was some kind of self-appointed weaboo morality police. He was frankly mentally unhinged.

I really like the driving format to your vids, getting a little tour of Nagano as a bonus to your insights, cheers from NZ :)

In smaller places, some gaijins want to be the only gaijin in the village, and look shocked if they see another gaijin walking around their village.

The primary reason nail is not prevalent is because the scarcity of iron ore and coal in Japan. Iron sand was used instead and it is a laborious process therefore expensive [learnt it from Greg in LWIF channel + as depicted in Princess of Mononoke]

Now don’t going putting us all in the same boat.. I am 67 and lived here for 28 years. I built a new house about 18 years ago. We rented an old house for 10 years. It used to cost so much to heat and cool it. Now around my area they are nocking down the old houses and building new ones. Not the big expensive houses the ones that were built cheap. Now all this about Akiya is the trend all the foreigners coming to Japan want to get one. You so much about them Japan is giving houses away for free. The free ones need a lot of cash spent on them to make them so would be able to live in them. I know what you mean there are a lot of wankers here there are also some fair dinkum fellas,too.

Reminds me of a Documentary here on KZfaq called 'A Life in Japan', it's a few years old now, pre-dating some of the 'new wave social media' people who travel to Japan these days. I keep remembering the guy who ran a Sake bar, whinging constantly as to how he isn't 'accepted' even after all the work he's put in, it's so cringe. There were also a few cool-aid drinkers in regards to the old houses too.

I live three years in takayama… Totally disagree with what he says… Actually would advocate for the opposite… Quality control among the carpenters, reflected well, the meticulous nature of the culture… Here in the west, we slap things together with nails and nail guns… He is absolutely wrong in this.

I really like keeping traditional craftsmanship and art alive, but everyone should do it the way they like and not force it on others. Which also means people who only think practical accepting the younger folks who appreciate the olden days.

Interesting stuff. Keep up the work its awesome. Cheers from melbourne :)

All very true! Many of the westerners who come to live in Japan are certainly 'interesting'..... As a former motorcycle mechanic/racer, one of the things that most astonished me about Japan was how perfectly serviceable bicycles, motorcycles and cars were simply discarded. So I had a little side gig recycling motorcycles and bicycles. Not far from where we lived was a scrapyard. While returning home from work on my bicycle I would periodically make a small detour to check out whatever 'new arrivals' there were. Sure enough, one day there was a very nice 4-cylinder, low mileage Suzuki 750 laying on its side on a pile of scrap metal. "How much you want for this old bike?" I asked. "Well, I can only get ¥5,000 for it as scrap," he said. So we jump-started it with his truck, I gave him a ¥5,000 note and I rode it home, selling it later for considerably more to a fellow in Thailand. But....when chatting with him about the 'old days' he said: "Losing the war was good thing. Back in those days you couldn't even walk along the river without the police asking you what you were up to."

well, this will be a reality shock for a bunch of folks , i love it , keep the awesome work flowing mate ,cheers

Guy called me "Furui sutairu" and said his dad and I would get along great.

You're right! My neighbor lived in Japan for 17 years and everytime the subject of Japan comes up, it turns into a lecture. My concern is Japan staying Japan. With other countries trying to strong arm Japan into taking more migrants from the third world. It's a horrible idea, Japan knows what's good its citizens, Japanese culture is unique but other countries seem like they're set on destroying it, just my thoughts. Anyway, this was an excellent video, thanks.

Just from your videos, I could get from the 7 11 to your joint easily by memory. Japanese are very practical, they aren’t nostalgic either. When you look at their fishing gear, they are always adopting the newest and best for the job.

Far out. Excellent video.

Excellent video. It’s logic and economics that drive decisions. Past and present. And as you say, important not to over-romanticize the past (or present). Your grandmother nailed it.

@Real Rural Japan: Hello, did you have this channel back in 2011? I recall watching a guy I subscribed to who was very much like you and was also from Australia. I remember he made a video about renouncing his Aussie citizenship because Japan did not allow dual citizenship. Thank you.

For a high tech society you'd think they'd have online bill payments.

7:43 It's not a good idea to just ditch the gas powered vehicles all together, especially with how mass produced EVs are not the golden egg laying goose every major carmaker thought they are. Just look at how brands like Audi have quietly turned the dial back on when they want to go fully electric with their entire fleet. Thus, a system of parallel developments will keep our needs met long term.

Sorry for 2 comments on 1 video. I just want to say - perhaps these kinds of people are more deserving of pity than ridicule. They should face the consequences of their delusions regardless when reality comes knocking - even if it ruins their life.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Practicality and logic all the way.

the houses were built without nails because iron was expensive, labour was cheap, there were plenty natural disasters to destroy the homes, so cheap and quick is good.. and timber was plenty. that was why.. superb video.

Usually, "the past was the worst". Except anvils if i've been left to believe correctly.

to be fair, you did complain about the youth not participating in the ricefield & on the field like back in the old days & only reading comics or something like that. It's not wrong if people think how to help the environment getting rid of as much pollution & embrace that was good about the natural way of living, like preserving fruit you showed & such while the youth will probably loose that tradition too. I do agree the uptight pretentious foreigners are just annoying lol Lovely channel & goodluck!

Properly designed composting toilet dont stink,,many RVers and boats use those see Natures head for example 😊or Clivus multrum with houses having crawls space like japanese its doable

Have only seen videos of foreigners that is from late 20s to late 30's posting these videos about old houses in Japan here. Have yet to see someone older than 40 posting such videos. Perhaps Ihaven't gotten them into my feed.

Every one that complained about the modern world. They should live in the amazon for a few years to see how they liked 👍

0:13 🎉😂 THATS ME!!🎉

May I ask what prefecture you are in?

When you wax nostalgic you will always have a more romantic viewpoint because you were younger, more potential for life, life was simpler and you had less responsibilities so ideals seemed more 'achievable' and worth striving for.

The number of unwanted Japanese houses is expected to grow to 15 million or more. Many of which were built after the war and aren't of value. Unless you want to live in the country and grow your own rice.

All of your points on survivors bias absolutely hit the nail on the head 👏In the historical costuming community, there is an idea that there’s no such thing as “historical accuracy”. One can spend a fortune acquiring all the historical materials and trying to replicate all the climate/temperature/humidity to recreate a historical piece of clothing that, when it was made, was made of just what was cheap and easily available. Sure the materials may be accurate but the human experience is not at all accurate.

In finland we used to live in holes in the ground. That may sound healthy. But it was not for health reasons.

I like how you said this :)

4:39 is no one else gonna mention that green van appeared out of thin air???

I think 150 years ago nails in America were common so Japan must of not have the production capacity. I doubt Americans would be using nails either if they had to forge them manually but I don't really know the history. I never knew Japanese built houses with nails. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve been in Japan for a job for 7 years. All the expats here are “everything in Japan is great and everything back in (pick your country) is crap.” There are things I like here and things I hate, just like everywhere else on planet earth. As for old houses that people despair about, most of the old houses here in Kyoto are crap and should be torn down. They were crap when they were new and now they’re just old crap. You can’t even give them away. All that said, I’ve enjoyed my time here immensely.

Aren't they last samurai syndrome or something? It's not just houses, there seem to be lots of white westerners that are defenders of Japan.

How intrusive is the government when it comes to what you do on your land? In rural areas it seems that anything goes. In Australia everything is controlled. Thoroughly dystopian.

Many of the reno projects are moneypits. They have to spend so much to make a few rooms of the house livable, and their houses are still cold in the winter. There’s a reason why these houses are “bargains.” Only the very rich have the money to fix everything.

The comments here are the most energetic, for your channel, so far.

👍👍

We have somewhat similar situation in thailand too. Due to internet and rapid pace of modernization, some foreigners (particularly folks who visited or lived the country for decades) feel that thailand has lost its traditional charm. I think these people want places like Japan or thailand to remain “exotic” and special in the same way it was decades ago. Now that the local people can speak English, laught at the same meme as westerner across the ocean away, and cities are turning into metropolitan that are not that different from other countries…. A lot older folks are feeling like the exotic “hidden gems” that they “explored and discovered” are slowly destroyed by globalization.

Compost toilets have there place. Off grid cabins for instance. Also might be a solution for the housing crises in many parts of the world. Most unused commercial real-estate can't be repurposed into apartments because of plumbing. But if compost toilets were used, it could make that possible. That being said, I wouldn't want to deal with that everyday but I'd consider it if my income was super low. Better to have an ultra discounted apartment where people are using composting toilets & shower stalls vs sleeping on the streets💩

Umm. You should ask these people whether they pulled out their western toilet to install a squat toilet…

there is a name for the first sort of fallacy people commit about the past. filling in the reasons for past decisions being the current outcome/conclusion, assuming that those people in past did know a possible problem/benefit, that is more apparent to us now. the other fallacy, is kind of similar to a "appeal to novelty" fallacy, which is basically new ideas/standards are better because they are new, and really that is the biggest problem with new technology. they could solve a problem, but introduce 10 more. I see that the with computer related stuff, I know a bit of tech stuff, and sometimes i find my self, and or other people in the field assuming that their knowledge, is something that should be general knowledge. leading them to suggest solutions that are just too inconvenient for every day person that really don't have time to care about why is program x is better than program y, when all they care about is how much friction before they get a task done task done.

Every society used the Technology level available at the time

😎👍

8:40 about the good old days around '70 somethin I could buy house in Canada w 100$ down,got 67 Camaro for 1500$ burger was 35cents and galon of gas about the same,,😂 nowadays houses start at milion $ in all big cities,,

Pay those bills!

I’m so glad you’re trashing older people for a change!

Always a lot who have a cartoonish romanticized version of the world they feel like they have to entertain.

Beautiful countryside and other scenery. I just want to tour Japan as a tourist. I never would have guessed the issues this man is discussing are actually a thing. I guess there are people with an "elitist" attitude in EVERYTHING. Ah, humans and their egos. 😂

I’m from Quebec, so a lot of French Canadians go to Japan and always comment on how great the cultural homogeneity is. Quebec has always had a thinly veiled ethnocentrism to its nationalism, so Japan is like a mirror to their deeper wishes. I’ve read a few classic Japanese authors and some Japanese philosophy, the biological racism shares elements with their old class systems- so, I’ve never been impressed nor do I think it’s justified. That’s the pretentious shit I hate hahaha!

Excellent commentary. 😊 Very educational. The more Liberal someone is - the more Out of Touch with Reality their views are. Practicality eludes them. Instead, it's all about Delusion and Virtue Signaling. Patrick from Bethesda, Maryland, USA

I've lived in urban Japan for nearly 10 years. It's quite funny how people put a magical twist to all things Japan.

Thanks!!! I felt somebody HAD to make this video!!! Finally! hahaha I met so many of them who have lived in Japan for years and are pretentious against us youngsters and also against japanese people... sometimes I feel weird as they say "the japanese do this", "the japanese do that"... yeah so why don't we do like they do ? and why don't we call them "people" now, because the society is getting diversified lol

Would I want to go back to my family's old Victorian era home? Heck no. Am I glad a rich family bought it and restored it to its original, period-correct condition? You betcha! I do appreciate the history and aesthetics of old houses, but... I've been spoiled absolutely rotten with modern amenities like proper plumbing, heating and AC 😅

Spot on. I have found that the worst ones know nothing of reality. Most of them came here as post grads, started out teaching or whatever and stayed. Many others were already social outcasts and just simply stayed. Avoid them like the plague!!!!

I like that part you put up about your dear great grandmother.😂

You are right about them being practical.

They(Japanese) are not the best at knowing history even their own. I call it a selective history. They only select the type of history they choose to know or alter to their liking.