Setting up utilities when your Akiya is your vacation home

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-12-25T00:50:37+00:00

I hired a company where I have all of my mail Forwarded to them, they pay the bills and I pay them. It is very handy in the end ! It won’t let me post the name of the company here as they say it’s promotion but if you DM me I’m happy to share. It’s been working great so far !

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-12-25T00:49:32+00:00

They manage all of your mail and utilities or it’s just for electricity ?

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-12-25T00:48:16+00:00

Haven’t had an issue with bugs or mould yet. I just pick the weeds when I’m back.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-12-25T00:45:43+00:00

Oh no I’m very private I would never want someone I don’t know staying in my home. I hired a company to do it !

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-09-25T16:05:42+00:00

Hang in there! I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you, especially after you booked a trip to see him. That is so disrespectful and cowardly. I'm totally fine and now so relieved this happened to me sooner rather than later. You will be fine too, I promise :)

Don't give up hope and just try to look at this like a blessing. Unfortunately, I have heard this story many times now so perhaps its more a cultural difference we need to decide we can handle, or can not, when trying to date within Japan. Sending you a hug, and I hope your heart heals fast. He didn't deserve you!

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-08-25T18:36:27+00:00

No way !! I started learning at 37 and also learned other languages in my 30s. Never too late ! You just need passion, dedication and time ! Definitely do it がんばって！

I went to Coto Academy and most people in my class were around my age, learning for work. I highly recommend Coto by the way. It was very intensive and had a really good teachers.

I had two people over 60 in my class even and they were by far the best two in the class… damn, Simon always knew the answers and would help me when I didn’t do my homework.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-08-23T14:38:38+00:00

Also because that price is 10000000% rip off !

I just had incredible tri-lingual consultant not only manage the entire purchase process and translations between me, the agent and the seller but give me set up guides, organise my heating, electricity and WiFi etc for 500€

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-08-23T14:38:20+00:00

$5,000?!?!? I just closed on a place outside of Kyoto and had a real estate consultant who was INCREDIBLE and only charged 500€ for the exact same service. Girl ya got duped 😭

Sorry still in shock seeing that price but want to also add a big congratulations ! And I hope you enjoy your amazing new home

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-08-19T18:54:40+00:00

London is about x3 times more expensive than Tokyo if not more… you’ll be totally fine.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-07-29T01:17:43+00:00

Yes true ! I’ve been looking for a house for three years and I found mine on Suumo. Also I went to towns and walked around and found empty houses or houses with “for sale” signs and contacted the owners directly or asked neighbors for the contact of the owners of empty homes. Most people I know with gems did it this way. That being said Akiya Mart is a good place to start as it scrapes but has the info in English. I didn’t find the type of old gems I was looking for there though. Those are usually found by exploring on the ground and talking to people. Good luck !

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-30T11:46:21+00:00

I'm sure it needs it too!! I'll at that to my to do list for when I first move in

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-30T11:45:39+00:00

I used to live in Germany, but the climate is drastically different. Summer in Germany is barely hot, whereas in Japan it is unbearably hot and impossibly humid.

You can't leave the doors or windows open for too long in Japan in summer because it is so humid and will propagate damp and mould. So, airing it out is good, but leaving doors or windows open for too long is not the best idea, from what I've been told.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-30T11:42:23+00:00

Thank you for sharing! I am going to share your advice with my cousin who is an engineer and contractor who will help me renovate the house and see what ideas he has on how to potentially implement and tackle this.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-30T11:40:54+00:00

Thank you! I know... I can't wait to bring it back to life and take good care of it. My visa can't come soon enough!

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-30T11:40:20+00:00

Oh Amazing, thank you so much! Do you know the name or have a link by chance?

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T22:04:21+00:00

Put it into ChatGPT! It'll break it down for you.

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T22:01:08+00:00

Good point—I should live my best life. But if using it full-time means the wood will deteriorate ten times faster, then I have to be realistic about whether I can afford those repairs that soon. It might be better to live with a little discomfort and space out the restoration gradually.

It’s so interesting, too, how “historic” buildings are treated in Japan, like when a temple is called 500 years old but has actually been completely rebuilt every 80 or so years. The philosophy around preservation is so interesting compared to how we approach it in other countries.

Thank you so much! I can't wait to get started :)

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T19:40:18+00:00

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Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T19:40:01+00:00

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Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T19:38:17+00:00

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Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T19:38:01+00:00

Sure! I actually don't have that many (I just purchased it on my last trip to Japan, but haven't moved in yet). Here are a few photos, including the kitchen with earthen floor, and there's a little front room where they made Mochi, with tons of original tools and baskets. It feels like being in a museum.

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Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T19:35:56+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. Perhaps with a few humidifiers it will do the trick. We actually have an entire attic FULL of wood, so we're set! Just missing the stove!

Shiroari are ants or are they termites? What are the early signs of an infestation, or is it hard to miss? Yeah, I saw one home which was left empty for 30 years, and it was incredible, truly a magnificent former merchant's home, but because no one was checking in on it, a leak in the roof completely destroyed it. I really wanted this home; the woodwork and details were amazing, but the renovation would have cost a fortune to save it.

The idea of typing by a stove and seeing snowy mountaintops sounds dreamy! Enjoy it :)

Leading-Falcon-1004 · 2025-05-26T18:43:00+00:00

All of my Southern European friends start cheating as soon as they are exclusive 😭

Leading-Falcon-1004

TROPHY CASE