Why NOT to Buy a Traditional Japanese House ⛩️ 6 Reasons to Avoid
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- Опубликовано: 13 май 2024
- Many dream of renovating a traditional Japanese house. But the reality is renovating a Japanese home is far more difficult than most buyers realise. Here's 6 reasons NOT to do it.
🍿 Watch Alex @TokyoPortfolio: • Inside a 100+ Year Old...
🇯🇵 Why Kyoto's Traditional Homes are Disappearing: • Why Kyoto's Traditiona...
Starring @TokyoPortfolio
Edited & Filmed by @PaulBallard
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00:00 Why Japan's Traditional Houses are Disappearing
01:56 Inside a Successfully Renovated Japanese House
06:47 Inside an Empty Traditional Japanese House
07:34 Reason 1
08:40 Reason 2
11:23 Reason 3
12:12 Reason 4
13:35 Reason 5
14:21 Reason 6
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WHAT DO YOU RECKON? Are you up to the challenge of renovating a traditional Japanese house?
I'd always romanticised the idea right up until I set foot in this place. My dreams are crushed.
Cheers to Alex from Tokyo Portfolio for joining us! I can't believe it's already been a year since we last caught up. You can check out this video linked in the box above!
Thanks for the upload Chris!
i wuv u 🥺🥺
Griffith did nothing wrong
I would take on the challenge, sounds a bit hard but it would be worth it.
@@Sichlittdid he ?
As a carpenter, I'd love to own the older house and do the renovations myself. It's really not in bad shape at all. But the initial cost is way overpriced for what you get.
That price is probably 90% location.
And the fact that is 2x 70 square metres
@@StaK_1980 That's basically real estate in a nutshell.
Yeah, and in Kyoto of all places. I’m sure it would be far cheaper anywhere outside of Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/Hiroshima
@@paros320 Correct...but Tokyo also has wards where the prices are not that bad, just stay away from the famous ones. Also, you can easily find an affordable place that is just a 30 minute bus ride into Kyoto -- and it's not so bad. The need to commute via train in Kyoto is unnecessary if you're a foreigner? Most foreigners working in Japan can just work remotely I imagine.
Yeah, the price and worrying about the structural integrity would be my biggest concern, otherwise I'd be happy enough with that sort of place.
I feel like it would be great if even if some of these houses were demolished, that the new ones could be made with a similar visual style, even if they weren't made exactly the same way.
This. In America some cities do impose some regulation of street view aesthetics in historic areas when new building is being done.
That would increase property prices, which is one of the things Japanese real estate laws and regulations discourage. It's maybe the only rich country in the world where real estate laws have not been changed to "preserve the character" of a neighborhood. That's why most Japanese neighborhoods are so hideous--anyone can build any old ugly thing on their plot of land. But that keeps prices low since "preserving character" is an expensive undertaking.
forcing new buildings to keep the outside style the same, would be a great solution.
@@pdruiz2005 I would not say ugly, it has its own charm, but yeah I can say people who do not like cyperbunkesque concrete blocks wont like it that much. But at least its easy to walk inside the city
@@pdruiz2005 umm their neighborhoods are no were NEAR hideous; FOOL
I know you probably won't see this, but I just stayed in a renovated machiya in Kyoto two weeks ago. The house itself was beautiful, but in the middle of the first night we were awoken by horrific screeching and animals clawing inside the walls. We figured out that it was WEASELS - yes, WEASELS - that had broken into the roof through a hole in the adjoining house. When the property manager came to investigate, he said that the houses on either side were empty, and that quite often you have weasels or other animals that essentially take over the house, and then cause havoc to the adjoining properties. I'll never think of Kyoto without thinking about how we got infested with weasels.
Did they rip your flesh?
They would likely have been, if they were not definitively weasels, civet cats or rats. Civet cats (hakubishin) love living inside old house walls and roofs.
Wild Weasel!
Just googled. So cute! Prefer a weasel to a Mukade on my pillow!
I mean, big deal? There is a course and correlation as to why they were there.
Actually the yellowing on these old kind of plastics does not mainly come from cigarettesmoke but from the bromium used in the plastic to make manufacturing easier. The plastic degrades over time having more and more bromium getting oxidized which makes it yellow and slightly toxic :)
Dang. So that's why my SNES and Gameboys have gotten all yellow over the years even though they were never subjected to tobacco smoke. I learned something new today.
Have to correct myself. Its not due to air but due to UV light from sunlight knocking the bromium out of the binding
After Googling, isn't it called bromine? Thanks though. I always wondered about browning plastic.
This is true
Thank you! 😊
I still love how Chris makes movie quality videos, free for the public.
I'm just bloody lucky to get to do what I enjoy - even if it means staying up until 5am regularly 😅
Glad to have amazing viewers and folks on the Abroad in Japan Patreon. This whole community gives me strength through thick and thin!
Free for the unwashed masses!
Mate, what you have done here, is commented on a random British man's comment, making him feel very proud about himself and just give him the slight hope that he can relate with other members of society.
Also the Patreon features are just the best.
im suprised chris doesnt have his own tv series
i want a shirt that says 'smells like lemons'
Tbh, i like the second one more, though the state and price of the building is terrible, i would merge some of the rooms together, and thicken/soundproof the walls to the neighbors, and make sure all the walls are properly insulated for winter to, i think a bigger kitchen would do wonders.
same here. besides the sketch stuff like mold, foundation issues and insulation/soundproofing it looks really nice and comfortable
Another youtuber named Anton (Anton in Japan) bought a abandoned house ("Akiya") in Tokyo for virtually free and renovating it. It was abandoned for 10+ years and still had all the belongings of the former owner. His channel is super interesting if anyone wants to see how to renovate an Akiya.
yes and he stated how insane and ridiculous it is for anyone to do so. There are so many restrictions when throwing away old wood/garbage in japan its stupid.
Anton is the PewDiePie of Akiya RUclips content 🔥😂
its from the 20s and looks THAT nice?! I'm actually quite impressed. Yeah with the mold, foundation issues, and its cost I can see why people aren't interested in investing in a renovation, but that house was well loved for a very long time before its age began to make itself known.
And remember houses decline fast the second people stop living in them. Especially mold in Japan. Even modern apartments suffer from mold. The country deals with a lot of humidity.
Also didnt help that they made it look darker in there then it probably really was.
I had been considering buying an old house in my area, but my wife (who is Japanese) said “absolutely not”. So we ended up building a new house instead. Can’t say I regret it at this point. (Of course it costs more to build a new place, but land is pretty cheap rural Japan. And then there are those zero interest bank loans… 😆)
Did you build your house in the traditional style, or modern?
@@shiromochi-kun The house itself it’s mostly modern, but we had it built by a local carpenter who uses a traditional approach to building. It was a fascinating process. (Which I video blogged, if you’re interested.) 🍻
I would expect that most Japanese people who have lived or stay in an old house would never want to own one due to the drafts, cold, lack of insulation, super steep stairs, etc. I have romanticised the idea of living in an old Japanese house myself but having visited friends who do, and having stayed in some (renovated) ones, the reality can be pretty uncomfortable
@@megand6233 Exactly.
@@Jordan-inJapan Yes please!
What's upsetting is the second house looks comfy to me, at first glance. Many small rooms to utilize, authentic and nostalgic feel. It's the awareness of how everything is degraded and about to break that makes it an awful place to move in.
Especially the nostalgic feeling. Like, you can actually imagine your grandparents having lived there.
@@hickknightmakes my heart break
It's not necessarily that it's "about to break", but that it will need repairs to keep problems from getting worse.
kinda felt the same, also wondering why its so expensive if there isn't much demand for it, you would think the reasonable thing to do would be drop the price to make it more likely to sell, a lower price would make up for the cost of renovations.
i rather liked the look myself, the view of the garden area from the first shot made it seem like there wasn't much you could do but the second shot of it showed much more potential there.
@@tuseroni6085 It is weird. I can't imagine it's doing anything for the current owner and they would be willing to drop the price drastically to offload it.
Having grown up in the rural American South, I've seen a plethora of abandoned homes/trailer houses. The state of the unrenovated town house is probably the best case scenario for an abandoned/uninhabited house. Especially for being 100 years old
Seriously. PA resident here, and every time they complained I was like "You people truly have no idea. Come to me after you've seen a COMPANY HOUSE."...
yeees, finally someone who understands the importance of insulation! I have been staying in Japan as an exchange student and was chocked of how bad the insulation is here in Japan. In Sweden (where I'm from) it is quite common with three layered windows and don't understand why not more countries implement that when building houses. Insulation is not just good to keep the house/building warm, it is also good to keep it cool during the summer months. Better insulation for everyone!
They used to say about Japanese motorcycles in the 1960s that they were meticulously constructed with incredibly cheap materials. Japanese homes are the same way, everything you can't see is skimped on.
My father always said the same thing and said it was crazy that here in Australia, we do not insulate our houses very well for the climate - hot or cold.
It is much more cheap to build houses without noise canceling walls and insulation. ( construction cost )
If you don't have high energy costs, it is cheaper for the residends to just use more energy and Japanese homes are quiet small. Japanese also tend to only heat certain rooms and not the whole apartments, so even if they "waste" energy it isn't that bad if you only heat / cool 20m²-
The other thing is that they have quiet high air moisture. Good insulation can lead to good mold :D
Agrees in Canadian
insulate deez nutz
If I bought a machiya I would be so tempted to renovate it in the same aesthetic - or, at the very least, keep 80-90% of the elements and add just a few modern touches here and there. There's something very alluring about how these old houses look and I personally find the layout to be very interesting. Also, I have to appreciate the small garden with the old AC, there must be some 50-year old artifacts right there!
The extreme yellowing of the intercom plastic likely has nothing to do with the cigarette smoke - all of it could be due to the bromine added to the plastic which makes it degrade and turn yellow with time when exposed to the sunlight and oxygen.
Was looking for this comment.
It is definitely the result of bakelite plastic reacting to UV over an extended period.
Plus Kyoto is hot and humid in summer; this could contribute to the yellowing process.
I might be odd but i much like the second unrenovated one! If it was restored to just its prior glory I think it's quite a comfortable and cozy space that I'd love to spend time in!
I agree. In my opinion it is VERY nice compared to some horrible places I've come across where I live in the USA. The wood flooring in the kitchen and the walls are in my opinion exquisite.
Instead in the USA we have vinyl flooring, fake wood, and depressing drywall. Many houses in the USA are painted nearly the same depressing shade of white and are in FAR worse shape than that second home. I've seen houses that literally have several inches of rat and mice feces all over the floor.
While generally in better structural shape due to the better construction, there really is usually nothing worth keeping of the original home during renovations.
With a lot of old, yellowed, previously white electronics, it's actually light exposure that yellows it, and not necessarily cigarette smoke.
It says a lot about the houses in my country that the unrenovated one looked kinda cozy to me, except for the price 😅
Of course it wasn't pretty, but it looked like fine enough. Do some repairs and you could live there if you are content with simple necessities. But that price...
For the intro with Alex wearing the green scarf and gray suit, it's a real estate agent wearing the colors of Slytherin, how fitting 😂. I kid, I've seen enough of Alex's content to know he's a good guy, but the idea is just funny (I'm sure as a fellow American, Alex fully knows real estate agents here can be quite hit or miss).
Alex is definitely a Slytherin man, haha
In Australia, we could buy and renovate 2 or 3 of these machiya for the average cost of a decent home in inner Melbourne or Sydney. Funny how Chris scoffs at the cost, whereas I would love to pay that little for a house in the middle of Kyoto and live there. I'd still be about a million dollars better off than Melbourne!
Renovations aside, I think one advantage of traditional Japanese house is how little furnishing you need to do. You can just buy futon instead of full beds, sitting pillow instead of chairs, the wardrobes are built-in and even the tables are smaller.
Not sure about the layout, but the aesthetics of the "running garden" kitchen were really nice. I loved the combo of terracotta tiles with wood framing. And a stainless steel countertop is pretty cool as well. The skylight though seemed like a really unique and beautiful architectural feature.. If only the house weren't falling apart lol
honestly it didn't seem like it was falling that much apart, the floors aren't that big of aa deal to replace and they looked at a slanted door. I've seen way worse things.
It‘s always so interesting to see the ins and outs of Japans real estate with Alex! Love the content Chris! ❤
He's a good lad is that Alex
The video quality is insane! Keep it up man :)
I'm glad you document things like this. Architecture might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people discuss the culture of a given society, but it's a a massively important way to distinguish one culture from another...or at least it was before the globalization/westernization of a number of countries.
As a developer reno projects only make sense when rents/replacing the structure is too expensive. At 200 a night, assuming its occupied 300 nights a year thats 60k usd a year. For a decent project you would need 6-8% annual return of the asset value (after expenses). Seems like it could be risky but if the property ends up being 700-800k usd its not terrible. Also in Japan there is little to no asset appreciation correct?
I heard a lot that Japanese properties only depreciate with time
Yep. Also, it's not like America where there's a booming home improvement business with hardware megastores in every town, which makes it harder for people to do renovations unless they are a professional contractor with sources for supplies.
The land value can go either way depending on the location but the value of the house itself is only going to go down. "Used" houses are generally not sought after by Japanese people and you might even get discounted the cost of tearing the building down when you buy it.
@@SNixD Sounds like they might be in need of some heavy heavy fines on not keeping up stuctural maintenance and on tearing down houses
@@piethein4355 Nah, that would mean that they would have to start building houses with more high quality materials instead of using cheap crap that's only expected to last 25 years at most. And if they did that construction prices would go up, margins would decrease, fewer people would be able to afford it and those who still could wouldn't need to rebuild as much because their houses would last! That leads to less business for the construction industry, less Yakuza money and most importantly a decrease in bribes to politicians! Absolutely unacceptable!
The weekly content has truly been a blessing! The high quality production, the sheer fun of your videos, it's a good time to be an Abroad in Japan fan (and Patreon)!
It’s been a great few months! And it’s about to get better. Thanks for watching and for your support! 🙏
@AbroadinJapan I look forward to it sir!
I wish we could see how the second house looked like in it's prime and I can't help but wonder about the family or families that lived there. There are so many stories and moments between those walls that trickled away.
...like tears in rain
As someone who grew up very poor this really didn't look that bad to me, I was a bit confused why they kept talking about how horrible it was haha
That's exactly what my wife and I were talking about.
snobby people who have never cleaned before are horrified by dust and dirt.
@@cheekyjebus5559 Mold is a legitimate concern as is the potential for structural failure.
At one time japanese buildings were often constructed of carefully cut, fitted wood parts without the use of nails.
It's very elegant, but every construction method has pros and cons.
@@jnharton you can clearly see the wood is treated, just clean the bloody mold and quit whinin' about muh $250k
@@cheekyjebus5559Can't wait for the "treated" Wood to collapse on me after I clean the VISABLE mold, but can't repair the obvious structural issues😂 Also no one cares about how hard you had it, its not an Olympic sport and if it was you'd lose, it's especially funny when you're commenting on your Iphone
Living in Munich, definitely one of the notoriously expensive cities in Europe, $400K for the house and another $200 for renovating the place actually - and unfortunately - doesn't seem too shocking. A completely standard apartment with 70m² starts at roundabout 600k€ if you want to buy it. And that's not even the places in the popular areas.
Not saying it's not a lot of money, I just wasn't as shocked by the price as I expected to be.
I also live in a german city, a smaller one and the prices for houses went up so much over the last years that something like this would be possible inside the city core and pricy for the outter parts of the city, but not absolutelly unreasonable
@@TaradoxxiI live here too and I'm surprised a house on my street recently sold for $850k and I'm in a more reasonable suburb.
It's the same in big cities in New Zealand and Australia. I am always shocked by how affordable property is in Japan, including rents. That said, wages are low.
I live in NYC and $1M is pretty much the average price for a single family home in my neighborhood. Absolutely ridiculous prices.
I saw an ad for a barista at blue bottle coffee in Kyoto. They were offering $6.50 per hour! No wonder this machiya seems like a lot of money to people in Japan!
Love that your still making content and that I’ve been able to watch your journey all these years
Fantastic video! Love the topic - not something you expect to enjoy, but this was great! And always nice to see a guest spot from Alex.
If it weren't for the decrepit state, I would totally prefer the second machiya over the first. The second has a warmer feel and personality to it versus the first's modern uniformity.
Yeah, I didn't like ether of them. First one was so sterile and modern that it might as well be a whole new building. Second one is in really bad shape and the floorplan in not conducive to modern lifestyles. I've seen vids about macchias that were renovated to accommodate modern needs but preserved more of the original aesthetics. That second one might not even be viable due to wood rot it seems it might have and how thin the framing is on it.
totally agree. The first one was virtually featureless just like a hotel at any airport in the world, given some minimum price point. Who would want that for a home? Not only had the second one more personality but even some actually distinguishable style - like it or not.
God yes. First one looked like an IKEA product manager was let loose in the place.
The second one has a warmer feel, if you are after the warm embrace of death
Hard disagree. Much prefer modern.
honestly i think the unrenovated one looks better; it has a variety of textures its not just wood. I’m assuming no rebuilding means you’re not allowed to make a completely identical house but with steel supports? But i’m unsure how you would repair it without taking out the support beams…
the renovated house had the feel of an sleek ultra-modern deluxe... matches box. the old one actually looked like a home, but very dingy
I came to the comments to say the exact same thing.
the old one has a soul, the new one is just square flat walls with no trimming, it's awful.
It’s so nice to see the old townhouse and imagine it when it was full of kids and people with their trinkets and stuff and how they lived together
That second one has some great salvageable elements; the art window, a few doors, some of the timber feature panelling…
Love it.
it's a shame it can be that expensive to renovate these houses. I would love more content on Kyoto's debt and how it came about, that took me by surprise, with how much tourism the city has had (covid time excluded). Thank you for the content Chris!
The debt situation makes me scoff all the harder that Japan was so obstinate to reopen the country after the pandemic, using every stupid carrot on a stick trick to only allow a few people to come in (such as being limited to guided tours). Kyoto thrives on tourism and I don't know if the government wanted the business owners to show some form of outdated Japanese pride by dying on the vine instead of accepting the financial benefits of tourism/foreigners or what, but that delay of reopening when most of the world already had reopened couldn't have helped things.
As long as the basic structure is solid, renovations don't need to be as expensive as claimed in the video. One of my friends bought and renovated a property last year just outside Kyoto and paid about US$250,000 in total, including the house purchase. There was also a Japanlife Redditor a few years ago who bought a 2-story 10-room 1955 house for $90k and then completely renovated the interior for something like $110,000. It really depend on the location.
@@dgmt1 Countryside houses are cheep and plentiful because so many younger people prefer the type of jobs and lifestyles of the cities, so the city proper is much more expensive. Cities also tend to have a lot more regulation and paperwork.
@@dgmt1Yeah, outside Kyoto. That's a very important point you just glossed over.
The reason this decrepit old thing is worth so much is because of the land value. Any patch of land within the city is gold dust.
@@MrManBuzz property costs are based on location, renovation costs are not. Renovating a house that is a 10-minute commute from Kyoto station is not going to cost particular more than renovating an old house located within the city.
The "Oh, I didn't even see that" was the most estate agent thing to say by Alex, when Chris noticed the ashes in the cupboard. 🤣
Still one of my favorite channels on RUclips! Keep up the great work, Chris!
That hand popping up at 16:34 is a great touch
I think that cities like Kyoto need to have a competition for architects to come up with in part standardised, affordable and buildable modern, functional and energy efficient but still tradionalish looking home and house designs and to give tax cuts and other incentives for home owners/builders to persue those kind of homes.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how affordable it when people, like the owner of the house(s) in this video, buy the properties for the purpose of renting them out to tourists for short-term stays. Can absolutely dry up the local economy because tourists don't contribute even close to the level like actual residents do.
@@saitodosan9377true; also, the (young) locals don't want to live in Kyoto because of their financial situation and the rising taxes. There's a lot of mismanagement with the city finances, zoning, and city planning. Right now, unless some MAJOR foundational changes happen in Kyoto, their best bet may be to encourage more of the tourism/rental/hospitality-related real estate game. Though, over reliance on that sector is a major part of what got them where they are. They need to make changes; but they probably won't---politics.
@@5217tuberthere's little reason not to do both. It breaks my heart to see the beautiful machia replaced with ugly, non-descript boxes (often with few windows). The old house could be rebuilt with modern techniques, materials, and insulation. Keep the aesthetic; but rethink the thermal profile and throw in some heated floors, enhanced ventilation, and ethernet. If they make sure the outside still looks like a machia (even if a modern re-imagining) the feel of the city could be preserved. It just takes a few less grey-haired leaders who can't adapt and instead default to the alternative through inaction.
The young people are fed up and many are just working on their exit strategy to Tokyo or overseas.
it's a shame.
There’s no reason why modern houses can’t be built in the traditional fashions. It would be the best of both worlds.
@@Val.Kyrie. I mean, this is the same country that tore down the entire Shuri castle and Meiji Jingu, built it to the same architectural drawings, then called the resulting rebuild no different from the building they tore down, so you'd think they wouldn't be that attached to the concept of preserving the exact original materials as long as the spirit is there in terms of the building styles and methods.
Yet another AIJ video in so little time! And on the 4th of July too! I get to celebrate Independence Day with Chris Broad... what a great day!
Happy Independence Day!
@@AbroadinJapanre you sure you should wish people happy Independence Day? You did lose the Revolutionary War after all.
(I wonder if anyone still remembers that video lol)
World class editing. High quality videos. Love the vids, Chris!
love the cinematography! amazing as usual
We were in Japan in March and stayed in a renovated traditional house in Kyoto....It was quite fun and I am so glad we got to experience it. We really wanted Sharla's place in Tokyo but sadly it was booked out.....I know it would have been much better than the sketch airbnb in Tokyo, LOL.
$350,000 to buy, and half that in renovations means $525,000 total costs. That's about what you'd pay for a house with that many bedrooms where I live.
One bathroom for 5/6 BR is an issue of the older style.
Abroad's videos always nice to see. Quality makes all the difference. It doesn't feel like watching some random youtube video shot by a phone or something.
Looking healthier Mr. Affable! Thank you and Alex for this peek into Traditional Japanese Houses.
The sad tragedy of any traditional or historical building is that even if you are willing to pay a second mortgage to keep it from falling apart, it's hard to make them as comfortable as modern homes given that they often lack decent ventilation.
China has been buying a lot of old hotels, onsen and other stuff in Japan since covid made a lot of these places go bankrupt
Would be nice to also see kominka and akiya. And also perhaps to interview people who did buy and renovate a house and talk about their experiences.
@BentonHomestead is not a bad channel for that.
Thank you for sharing these videos Chris!
Wow! I love the idea of renovating one but that's because I'm a project junkie 😅. I'd love to see the process of someone renovating one and the steps that have to be taken etc including the laws that might keep you from doing things originally in the project plan. It's sad that these homes are dying off. Thanks for this awesome video!
Alex is getting noticeably more confident in every video he's in, great video!
This is definitely one of my goals. But at the moment, its looking about as likely as natsuki speaking fluent english .
What are you talking about, he speaks fluent Natsukigo.
@@starsgears9200 very true
I live in Britain and my house is probably around 70-90 years old. My kitchen has the same design as the "Hashiri Niwa" in that it links the front and back door of the house together in one corridor. Found that quite interesting to notice the similarity. despite mine being a British house. I know my house was designed that way for the old washing days (before washing machines) so you could hang washing outside easier as well as being able to move items through the house to the large garden.
I've heard that in Japan is actually common to just abandon a house, simply because financially it doesn't worth the money to maintain... The houses actually loose value overtime
I believe the average lifespan for a house in Japan is 20 years
@@johnrivers3813 Surreal... Here where I live, unless the surrounding area goes rock bottom, the house actually increases value over time... Japan is actually the opposite, the houses lose value, almost like a car thru the years...
You also have to keep in mind the "natural disasters" in the area. You risk flood or earthquakes depending on where you live. Newer houses are build to be more sturdy. Makes older houses less appealing. Can also impact the cost of your insurance, so old house can become more expensive that way as well.
@@karlijns4816 True; it would make more sense to build such a home in a geologically stable area that doesn't get too hot, like Tasmania.
@@johnrivers3813 This is mostly due to older homes not being built with modern things like air conditioning, proper electrical and plumbing, and insulation. Even in the 80s and 90s it was common to simply build without these elements - or as cheaply as possible. It's cheaper to just bulldoze it and start over with something that will last. So you see 20-30 year old cheap housing being torn down left and right. Anything that is actual quality is still there.
Compared to the 1.2 mil (CAD) houses where i live, $500k for a 6 bed sounds like a dream!
I enjoy watching you're videos and learning more about this magnificent country. It is unfortunate that these beautifully designed simply built homes can not stand the test of time, especially for being part of Japanese history and culture. It is great that you give your viewers insight and knowledge about Japanese life. Thank you!❤
I really enjoyed seeing the run down house, please make more videos like this, I'd happily watch you explore old houses
Another favorite RUclipsr, she can do her own renovations, just bought an investment property in Kyoto. Loved the place she bought. She was super straight up they need a lot of repair and these houses are like being made of paper.
"So this is called decoration"
Beautifully deadpan delivery there Alex 😂
Just watched Tokyo Llamas restoration work and docus as well and would have to agree with everything here. Buying old houses in Japan is not for the faint of heart. It will take you years to finish up renovation, not to mention expenses (especially transporting trash apparently) . There's a reason why even the Japanese prefer to buy new.
Wonderful videos on this topic!❤
I absolutely love these traditional houses, and it breaks my heart to see them disappearing. But I completely understand the problems of renovating/updating older homes as I own some in the USA. I hope that the government can find a way to give buyers/owners some financial incentives to enable more people to save these buildings.
When I travel to Japan in the future, I hope to stay in some of these traditional buildings as part of the cultural heritage experience. Is there some Airbnb type services to connect travelers to this type of accommodation?
Honestly, the second house is a lot more appealing character wise than the first house. The retro touches in the kitchen, the brick, and the industrial anesthetic are awesome. If there was a way to preserve these while making it sound, that would be a wonderful renovation.
this is hard to comprehend as where I live in Victoria BC, we have dumps for $600k and most are in the $800k but new. To me the total sum isn't even off putting and you're in Kyoto. I would assume that before purchasing the buyer could see if the building would be able to rebuilt if it was a demo? Seems insane they would not be able to get that info seeing as its either a full reno or demo off the hop.
The thing about people renovating old buildings anywhere, is that they all feel like it has to look like a hotel inside. The decrepit building looks like it has way more character, if only it could be made to be safe.
Another great video Chris! always enjoy watching your videos.😊
Thank you for sharing these insights 👍
Certainly helpful for future consideration.
Another great video 🙌 Whether he's alive or haunting from the ethereal realm, Natsuki never ceases to makes us laugh. 😅
I think these old houses are absolutely beautiful.
Thanks for the disclosure! Really relevant, but i think I'll continue to dream about renovating my own Akiya 😁
I'd love the challenge!
Wish you the very best!
I think the unrenovated one looks better because the old architectural interior and exterior style is more beautiful that minimalistic modern one. So i would try to keep the old style while repairing the house.
100% modern architecture is soul-destroying.
Chris is making me want to buy an Old Home in Kyoto Japan and renovate it
No kidding! Just as you seem to have uploaded this two days ago I signed up for Anton in Japan channel - all about renovating old houses in Tokyo. Worth a look for anyone interested.
14:22 This transition is so cool! Nice work Chris! ✨😉👍
The first place isn't a machiya! That's a sauna!
Real though, there's a middle ground. I recently spent a month in a kyomachiya through Hachise, and it was only $60 per night and an actual livable place, neither run down nor, again, a sauna 😂
Yay! Another video on Japanese housing with Alex, I don't know why but I'm a real sucker for these types of videos lol
Fascinating video. Good job!
Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!
The fact that Chris can just go to Tokyo to Kyoto and back in a single day without traveling through airport security
With Japanese vacancies predicted to hit 30% in the next 10yrs, this is a very relevant video 👍
The small town properties under 200,000 yen might be more our budget though 😆
Depending on the location there are still a lot of older Kyoto properties in good condition that are selling quite cheaply. I know of two properties (one bought by a friend, the other described in detail by a Redditor) that were bought and had major renovations done to them for around US$200-250k total within the last few years with fairly impressive final results. These were in less popular areas of Kyoto and the 250k typical renovation price mentioned in the video may be referring more to certain neighborhoods and people going to for more chic renovation styles.
Keep in mind those often come with the requirement to bring them up to date with current earthquake proofing regulations.
200,000 yen is only 2000 dollars us
30%...? Really? That seems a little high even for Japan...
@@mysterioanonymous3206 Study was just released, I read it on Mainichi. It's at about 15% now.
Should have saved the page, because I'm searching for it now and all I'm finding are real estate sites 😩
Really enjoying the quality of these videos, Chris. Keep it up! :)
Interesting stuff. Thank you Chris.
You've told about Japanese ghost towns before and I'm really curious how big of a house you can get for cheap in one of those spooky towns.
This was such a good video! So interesting, I lived walking around in Kyoto, seeing all the old buildings. It’s a shame to hear many won’t be saved. Understandable though now I’ve watched this. The metal bath made made laugh, the place I stayed in Osaka had one, wasn’t my most comfortable bath ever 😅
I’m not overly a fun of the metal baths either. Hinoki wood all the way!
@@AbroadinJapan I have yet to experience that, that’s on the list for my next visit!
Been watching forever and just love your videos. Informative and funny!
We like Alex! Very interesting new perspective on things as we age.
We lived in a beautiful house in Kyoto when I was a child not a real machiya. It stood in its own grounds with really nice little gardens and a big kura that had a lot of things that were left from the previous owner. Unfortunately it was riddled with termites. Since Japanese houses are usually built on wooden supports with only foundation stones between the ground and the wood of your house, if termites move in that’s the end. It’s probably the reason why there’s all that distortion, there are probably supports that are half eaten.
Termites and mold. Especially in Kyoto where the houses are so close together it just spreads so easily
@@johnrivers3813 Correct - basically you have to rebuild it from the ground up, starting with a proper modern foundation. Then new walls, because no ducting or insulation. And on and on.. massively harder than a normal home, even.
I should really visit Kyoto before all these places are gone 😭
Glad to see some informative content.
9:10 love that old "Sony Watchman" style CRT display on the video door bell
The size of these places and the cost is still SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS cheaper after renovations than a 1 bedroom condo in Toronto, Vancouver, or NYC. The overall investment is so much cheaper than you guys think.
I was thinking the same thing 😅 $350,000 plus $150,000 in renovations is less than most first homes in Australia. It is definitely a cheaper option for many foreigners.
Well, you also have to think about it in terms of the country's local currency value, salary, expenses, etc. compared to your own. Is this cheap for someone who lives in the USA/Canada and can actually afford to live in those cities? Sure. Is it cheap for the average person actually living in Japan? Maybe not.
@@saitodosan9377 Fair point and I agree with you in regards to ex-pats in Japan or Japanese born locals. I would argue however that this channel's viewers are largely non-japanese foreigners in North America/Europe/Australia and assuming thats the case, this video doesn't drive home the 'expensive' cost to viewers at all.
None the less, you did make a great point. Cheers!
To be honest,the unrenovated 100 year old machiya still looks better than a 10 year old brick house in my city,cause if we leave a house unmaintained for just 6 months here,the house would start to be invaded by nature,there would be vines on the walls,grass growing on the gap between concrete and ceramics,mould on the drywalls,etc.
In my house we even have 2 trees growing up from the concrete on the roof,until now we can't move it because the trees grow in areas where we can't reach it.
I see you live in a tropical country. Brazil or somewhere in Southeast Asia?
@@pdruiz2005It does sound like it. I guess Banyan trees seem to be growing on one hell of a drug.
@@pdruiz2005 SEA
Man do you live on Dagobah
You got me with the jumpscare at 10:27, that was too good!
Hi thanks for doing a video on the state of Machias. Great work
Tbh the first one kinda sucks. The small garden takes up all that room when u could just walk to a park or outside. And while the 2nd needs alot of touch up it has more personality and doesn't feel like I'm in a hotel room.
Haha, it certainly has personality all right. Stuff staying in there at night though.
@AbroadinJapan I'm a sucker for wooden interiors and the "rustic/retro" look. Idk in Australia all our old houses are brick town houses, colonial style buildings or your classic farmers house, think English but u live in a country that has 30 degree summers and u own a yute. Idk how else to describe that style
always a great choice, to have "Tokio Portfolio" Alex Shapiro with you for visiting, rating and reviewing Houses or Appartements in Japan. his expertise and Chris´ entertaining skills are a nice combination.
On the plus side, I love the chain-style rainspout. 😄
I really love the comparison you drew between what a newly refurbished town house looks like compared to what it looks like before its been renovated and what all it takes to get to that level of comfortability :D I feel like when the news of these kinds of houses was circulating, a lot of people kinda saw it as an opportunity to snag an easy property with little work required (myself included honestly). But it is a lot more complex than that in reality XD It really would be a project that would require a lot in the end lol Still I think it would be a pretty fun to work on assuming the person buying has the funds and an interest in preserving those kinds of homes. Definitely something to think about in the future. Amazing work as always Mr. Affable, keep it up!
$400,000 for a small house that's falling apart is mental.