My most requested video is finally finished! This one took way longer than expected to finish. Partly because of the content, but also because of some gear issues…specifically, the camera on my phone is getting glitchy (because it’s old) and I ended up having borrow my daughter’s phone to retake a few parts. 😆 But yeah, I think it’s time to upgrade my gear. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video, but hopefully the video quality on the NEXT one will be better! 🍻
Very interesting. I and my wife are planning a new house at the moment, or it may be a combination of renovation (one section) and new (the other half - they're kind of separate to start with). I'm also from the "it's always T-shirt warm inside during *very cold* winters" camp, and we're trying to figure out what kind of insulation etc. we can get here. We're also getting older, and even though I got used to 4C in the morning and 14C during the day, with all heat sources blasting (and we don't like aircon, so in the summer.. wow), I don't think that's sustainable. In northern Europe it's now pretty standard with ventilation having to run 24/7, by regulation, but combined with heat exchangers, which seems to be a still mostly-foreign concept here (no pun intended). And we don't want gas. We've already changed to all-electric for cooking (induction).
@@tohaason Thanks for the comment, and good luck with the new-house planning! That part is so exciting due to the ‘sense of possibility’. We spent the better part of a year in that stage. Then we had the construction company architect look over (and adjust) our plans and after that left nearly everything up to our carpenters. How hands-on are you planning on being with the construction, btw?
@@Jordan-inJapan [Slightly editet] We're currently trying to figure out how to proceed. We have several options, but we don't yet know the cost or feasibility of each. However, we haven't moved back to Japan yet (though we're here at the moment), and we are still looking at how much of the actual building process we can monitor. But we're definitely going the design-our-dream-house route. Not a standard pre-designed house. On the other hand, not that big one either - we're planning single floor only, stairs aren't what we wish for when we get older.
I am an HVAC technician in the US so this was very interesting to see how modern Japanese homes are heated/cooled. Your family’s house turned out beautiful!
Thank you so much for the video! I first watched it before a few months ago, and before a couple weeks I had to make a presentation at the University, about sustainable designs-products, and I remembered watching your video, and made a research about OM Solar. With the limited information online, at least in the English language, your video was so helpful! Even in Japanese sites, the information was so little, but you explained the system in such a good way!
Jordan can you make video on technology used in new japanese houses like Central cooling, telecom, HEMS, etc coz on internet i was not able to find info regarding that and what are famous company that are into that in japan If you can please make video on this topic
Jordan, with how beautiful your house looks I don't think I would be able to choose a warmer version. And this is coming from someone from southern California where it's always t-shirt weather!
Hi Jordan, good to see how the house is going. We've just retrofitted double glazing throughout our house which is definitely making a difference. A bit like Japan, most Australian houses, ours is from the 1970's , weren't built with the idea of keeping them warm in winter, even those, like ours, in the colder parts of the country.
@@Jordan-inJapan over winter we are generally below zero down to -5°C overnight and about 12°C during the daytime. This is helped because winter where we are is fairly dry. The sunny days make things bearable. That said our long-term forecast says this winter should be warmer than average.
I am suprised with the energy costs, here in germany we as a family (2 young kids) pay around 50-60€ per month for electricity and in the winter months also extra for heating (75 m2). Your new costs are definitely nice and low. If we ever decide to live in japan, then going the insulated central heat system route is the way to go (most houses in central europe don't have any air conditioning and just rely on the insulation to keep everything warm and cool)
Good information and a really nice house! There is only one tip for your sound edit. Lower the sound of background music to the bare minimum when you're speaking. You have a good voice, so the music is only taking away from your excellently made video. I'd suggest no music at all when speaking, but that's up to you. Best regards from Croatia 😊
Hello mate, I’m planning on moving to Japan on the future for business and studies. Could you tell me or us your process of getting to own land and gating accepted for all permits etc…
The good news is it’s totally doable. There aren’t any laws preventing foreign nationals from owning property, or ‘special taxes’ or anything like that. The less good news is that a. property value doesn’t usually go up here (not good from an investment point of view), b. it’s very hard to get a bank loan unless you have permanent residency status and a stable income, and c, the process can be a bit complicated, especially if you aren’t fluent in Japanese and the seller isn’t used to doing things in English. Because of this I recommend going through a major real estate company who you can trust to walk you through the process step by step. I think if you do a quick search on line, you’ll find lots of options in this area. Well, good luck! And here are some useful vocabulary for you, just in case… Real estate - 不動産 fudо̄san Property - 物件 bukken Real estate agent - 不動産業者 fudо̄san gyо̄sha Deposit - 保証金 hoshōkin Loan for buying a house - 住宅ローン, jūtaku rōn Purchase - 購入する kо̄nyū-suru Contract - 契約書 keiyaku-sho Budget - 予算 yosan
@@Jordan-inJapan thanks for the tips mate, really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I’ll look into it and once again thank you! Ps. Thanks for the vocab.
There are some really effective systems available here, but I think the industry is still kind of in its ‘Wild West’ phase, without any kind of standard or even much awareness about what’s available. Since central heating still has an image of being a nonessential luxury, the local market isn’t great and Japanese companies focus on overseas sales.
Hey Jordan ... ohisashiburi ^.^ Nice build there, did some work on my own house today with retrofitting some phone outlets into fiber and ethernet. Hope you are well.
@@Jordan-inJapan a bit of frustration from the first few years back. Trying to get a job that fits is still a good struggle even today after 3 years. Was told too qualified and then not enough experience. Working in IT now and trying to improve. Even that said, I am making more now barely than I did in Japan. It was cheaper to BUY a house than to RENT a 1LDK. I am spending time on it to improve it now. Looking for the next step up. I have taken 3 computer certifications since being back. CompTIA A+, Net+ and Sec+. I think next year will be better though. Hoping for some better interest rates and a better job market with some positions coming open. Well one can hope .... Hope things are going good for you!
Luckily, none of my immediate neighbors do that. We can sometimes smell smoke from a farm a little further down the road, but it’s not a problem. Oh, but there ARE certain times we can smell manure though, when some of the neighbors are applying fertilizer. We close up the windows in that case. Just the cost of rural living… 😆
in malaysia with 20 and 30 milion yen is same price like expensive malaysia house apartment kondo and banglo that maintain price from 470 thousand ringgit into 2 milion ringgit
@@dimmacommunication are you referring to a specific website linked in the video description? Or just in general? The system itself is made by a local Japanese company called “OM Solar”, which doesn’t have an English website so you’d have to use a translation app or AI translator if you can’t read Japanese. The controlling hardware is made Omron, a multinational (Japan based) company so it should have English info online. But as for specific parts or systems, again, you’ll probably need to use a translation app. If you have any specific questions I’ll try to answer then!
@@Jordan-inJapan I was speaking in general, but I'm using the browser translator so it's a bit helpful when using JP websites. It's hard to check stuff if you can't write in japanese on google.
How were you able to afford more than 30M yen to build this house? I'm working here for more than one year and my savings are lower than 1M yen. Do you have any tips?
Well, my wife and I both work and saved up for about 15 years first…so we could afford a decent deposit. The rest was thanks to a (nearly-zero-interest!) bank loan.😅
@@Jordan-inJapan oh I understand. So you were 2 people gathering the money plus bank loan which I think it could be a big help to cover all the expenses needed. Thank you so much!!
Hi Jordan! I'm Amanda and I'm a real-estate journalist with Business Insider. I work on unique house tours, home renovation, and alternate living stories for the company. I came across your RUclips channel and I'm super intrigued by your whole experience moving to and building a house Japan. Would you be interested in speaking to me for a story? Please let me know if there's an email address I can reach you at to discuss this further. Thank you so much.
My most requested video is finally finished! This one took way longer than expected to finish. Partly because of the content, but also because of some gear issues…specifically, the camera on my phone is getting glitchy (because it’s old) and I ended up having borrow my daughter’s phone to retake a few parts. 😆
But yeah, I think it’s time to upgrade my gear. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video, but hopefully the video quality on the NEXT one will be better! 🍻
Very interesting. I and my wife are planning a new house at the moment, or it may be a combination of renovation (one section) and new (the other half - they're kind of separate to start with). I'm also from the "it's always T-shirt warm inside during *very cold* winters" camp, and we're trying to figure out what kind of insulation etc. we can get here. We're also getting older, and even though I got used to 4C in the morning and 14C during the day, with all heat sources blasting (and we don't like aircon, so in the summer.. wow), I don't think that's sustainable.
In northern Europe it's now pretty standard with ventilation having to run 24/7, by regulation, but combined with heat exchangers, which seems to be a still mostly-foreign concept here (no pun intended). And we don't want gas. We've already changed to all-electric for cooking (induction).
@@tohaason Thanks for the comment, and good luck with the new-house planning! That part is so exciting due to the ‘sense of possibility’. We spent the better part of a year in that stage. Then we had the construction company architect look over (and adjust) our plans and after that left nearly everything up to our carpenters. How hands-on are you planning on being with the construction, btw?
@@Jordan-inJapan [Slightly editet] We're currently trying to figure out how to proceed. We have several options, but we don't yet know the cost or feasibility of each. However, we haven't moved back to Japan yet (though we're here at the moment), and we are still looking at how much of the actual building process we can monitor. But we're definitely going the design-our-dream-house route. Not a standard pre-designed house. On the other hand, not that big one either - we're planning single floor only, stairs aren't what we wish for when we get older.
I am an HVAC technician in the US so this was very interesting to see how modern Japanese homes are heated/cooled. Your family’s house turned out beautiful!
Thank you! 😊
Thank you so much for the video!
I first watched it before a few months ago, and before a couple weeks I had to make a presentation at the University, about sustainable designs-products, and I remembered watching your video, and made a research about OM Solar. With the limited information online, at least in the English language, your video was so helpful! Even in Japanese sites, the information was so little, but you explained the system in such a good way!
@@stelioshz I’m glad it was helpful for you! Where is your University, by the way? (Just curious!)
@@Jordan-inJapan I'm from Greece, and my university is here in Greece. I'm studying as a digital designer.
@@stelioshz cool! All the best!
@@Jordan-inJapan Thank you :D
Hope you are doing great too!
Good explanation of your passive heating systme, Jordan. Thanks!
Jordan can you make video on technology used in new japanese houses like Central cooling, telecom, HEMS, etc coz on internet i was not able to find info regarding that and what are famous company that are into that in japan
If you can please make video on this topic
Good ideas! I'll keep that in mind for future content.
Very smart, thanks for upload
Interesting and very thorough explanation of this project.
Thanks! .This one took way too long to make. 😅
(I think I’ll stick to more fun topics like brew pub visits for a while…)
Jordan, with how beautiful your house looks I don't think I would be able to choose a warmer version. And this is coming from someone from southern California where it's always t-shirt weather!
Very interesting, thanks for taking the time to upload this. Greetings from the UK.
Thanks for the comment! 🍻
Hi Jordan, good to see how the house is going. We've just retrofitted double glazing throughout our house which is definitely making a difference. A bit like Japan, most Australian houses, ours is from the 1970's , weren't built with the idea of keeping them warm in winter, even those, like ours, in the colder parts of the country.
Nice! How cold does it get in the winter, where you live?
@@Jordan-inJapan over winter we are generally below zero down to -5°C overnight and about 12°C during the daytime. This is helped because winter where we are is fairly dry. The sunny days make things bearable. That said our long-term forecast says this winter should be warmer than average.
I am suprised with the energy costs, here in germany we as a family (2 young kids) pay around 50-60€ per month for electricity and in the winter months also extra for heating (75 m2). Your new costs are definitely nice and low. If we ever decide to live in japan, then going the insulated central heat system route is the way to go (most houses in central europe don't have any air conditioning and just rely on the insulation to keep everything warm and cool)
Good information and a really nice house!
There is only one tip for your sound edit.
Lower the sound of background music to the bare minimum when you're speaking.
You have a good voice, so the music is only taking away from your excellently made video.
I'd suggest no music at all when speaking, but that's up to you.
Best regards from Croatia 😊
Thanks for the comment, and I do appreciate the advice! 🍻
Hello mate, I’m planning on moving to Japan on the future for business and studies. Could you tell me or us your process of getting to own land and gating accepted for all permits etc…
The good news is it’s totally doable. There aren’t any laws preventing foreign nationals from owning property, or ‘special taxes’ or anything like that. The less good news is that a. property value doesn’t usually go up here (not good from an investment point of view), b. it’s very hard to get a bank loan unless you have permanent residency status and a stable income,
and c, the process can be a bit complicated, especially if you aren’t fluent in Japanese and the seller isn’t used to doing things in English. Because of this I recommend going through a major real estate company who you can trust to walk you through the process step by step. I think if you do a quick search on line, you’ll find lots of options in this area. Well, good luck! And here are some useful vocabulary for you, just in case…
Real estate - 不動産 fudо̄san
Property - 物件 bukken
Real estate agent - 不動産業者 fudо̄san gyо̄sha
Deposit - 保証金 hoshōkin
Loan for buying a house - 住宅ローン, jūtaku rōn
Purchase - 購入する kо̄nyū-suru
Contract - 契約書 keiyaku-sho
Budget - 予算 yosan
@@Jordan-inJapan thanks for the tips mate, really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I’ll look into it and once again thank you! Ps. Thanks for the vocab.
@@eduardonavarro8959 No problem!
Interesting. I work for an HVAC NYC firm that reps Hitachi VRF. Isn’t that system popular in Japan? Heat Recovery, water cooled Heat pump?
There are some really effective systems available here, but I think the industry is still kind of in its ‘Wild West’ phase, without any kind of standard or even much awareness about what’s available. Since central heating still has an image of being a nonessential luxury, the local market isn’t great and Japanese companies focus on overseas sales.
Hey Jordan ... ohisashiburi ^.^
Nice build there, did some work on my own house today with retrofitting some phone outlets into fiber and ethernet.
Hope you are well.
Hey, thanks for stopping by! Yeah things are pretty good. What’s it like being back in the states after so many years in Japan?
@@Jordan-inJapan a bit of frustration from the first few years back. Trying to get a job that fits is still a good struggle even today after 3 years. Was told too qualified and then not enough experience. Working in IT now and trying to improve. Even that said, I am making more now barely than I did in Japan.
It was cheaper to BUY a house than to RENT a 1LDK. I am spending time on it to improve it now.
Looking for the next step up. I have taken 3 computer certifications since being back. CompTIA A+, Net+ and Sec+.
I think next year will be better though. Hoping for some better interest rates and a better job market with some positions coming open. Well one can hope ....
Hope things are going good for you!
Great video, thanks.. suscribed..
Thanks! 🍻
9:11 woww they price is 2 time more that in malaysia
What happens when the neighbors burn their trash in winter?
Do you get the stinky smoke in your house?
Luckily, none of my immediate neighbors do that. We can sometimes smell smoke from a farm a little further down the road, but it’s not a problem. Oh, but there ARE certain times we can smell manure though, when some of the neighbors are applying fertilizer. We close up the windows in that case. Just the cost of rural living… 😆
in malaysia with 20 and 30 milion yen is same price like expensive malaysia house apartment kondo and banglo that maintain price from 470 thousand ringgit into 2 milion ringgit
I’ve heard that some wealthy Japanese people move to Malaysia for retirement. I guess this is one of the reasons!
@@Jordan-inJapan yeahh cause they can live like a china people even they have same culture but different
@@Jordan-inJapan 🙃 yaa we hope so many people stay in malaysia have so many race
@@afizi1213I’d love to visit Malaysia someday!
@@Jordan-inJapan thanks 😃
Not being able to speak japanese I can't check the manufacturers of heating ventilation etc... it's a pity I'm curious
@@dimmacommunication are you referring to a specific website linked in the video description? Or just in general? The system itself is made by a local Japanese company called “OM Solar”, which doesn’t have an English website so you’d have to use a translation app or AI translator if you can’t read Japanese. The controlling hardware is made Omron, a multinational (Japan based) company so it should have English info online. But as for specific parts or systems, again, you’ll probably need to use a translation app. If you have any specific questions I’ll try to answer then!
@@Jordan-inJapan I was speaking in general, but I'm using the browser translator so it's a bit helpful when using JP websites.
It's hard to check stuff if you can't write in japanese on google.
How were you able to afford more than 30M yen to build this house? I'm working here for more than one year and my savings are lower than 1M yen. Do you have any tips?
Well, my wife and I both work and saved up for about 15 years first…so we could afford a decent deposit. The rest was thanks to a (nearly-zero-interest!) bank loan.😅
@@Jordan-inJapan oh I understand. So you were 2 people gathering the money plus bank loan which I think it could be a big help to cover all the expenses needed. Thank you so much!!
@@kheiramakreloufi6209exactly. 👍
Hi Jordan! I'm Amanda and I'm a real-estate journalist with Business Insider. I work on unique house tours, home renovation, and alternate living stories for the company. I came across your RUclips channel and I'm super intrigued by your whole experience moving to and building a house Japan. Would you be interested in speaking to me for a story? Please let me know if there's an email address I can reach you at to discuss this further. Thank you so much.
@@agohjourno Nice to meet you, Amanda! You can contact me via Facebook/Messenger or Instagram. (Jordan, Inside Outsider in Japan)