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—
He’d spent years backpacking all over the world, and Japanese traveler Daisuke Kajiyama was lastly able to return residence to pursue his long-held dream of opening up a guesthouse.
In 2011, Kajiyama arrived again in Japan along with his Israeli associate Hila, who he met in Nepal, and the pair set about discovering the proper location for his or her future enterprise.
Nonetheless, there have been a few main hindrances of their method. To begin with, Kajiyama had little or no cash to talk of after years of globetrotting round locations like Korea, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Guatemala, Cuba and Canada.
He additionally occurred to have his coronary heart set on a standard Japanese home, usually referred to as kominka, that are often handed down over generations.
“I wished to have a standard home within the countryside,” Kajiyama tells CNN Journey, explaining that he was decided to search out two homes positioned subsequent to one another, in order that he and Hila might reside in a single, whereas the opposite could be a guesthouse that they’d run collectively. “I had a imaginative and prescient.”
![Daisuke and Hila Kajiyama transformed an abandoned farming residence in Japan into a guesthouse.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152312-03-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
When he was unable to search out something that met his necessities, Kajiyama determined to shift his search to incorporate the rising variety of deserted houses within the nation.
As youthful folks ditch rural areas in pursuit of jobs within the metropolis, Japan’s countryside is turning into stuffed with “ghost” homes, or “akiya.”
Based on the Japan Coverage Discussion board, there have been 61 million homes and 52 million households in Japan in 2013, and with the nation’s inhabitants anticipated to say no from 127 million to about 88 million by 2065, this quantity is more likely to improve.
Kajiyama was driving round Tamatori, a small village positioned within the Shizuoka prefecture, between Kyoto and Tokyo, surrounded by inexperienced tea plantations and rice fields, when he got here throughout an aged lady farming, and determined to method her.
“I stated ‘Have you learnt if there are any empty homes round right here?’ And she or he simply pointed,” he remembers.
He seemed over on the space that she was signaling to and noticed two uncared for homes aspect by aspect – a former inexperienced tea manufacturing unit and an outdated farmer’s residence – positioned near a river.
Each properties had been uninhabited for no less than seven years and wanted an enormous quantity of labor. Kajiyama requested the girl to contact the proprietor to search out out in the event that they’d be serious about promoting.
“The proprietor stated that nobody might reside there, because it was deserted,” he says. “However he didn’t say ‘no.’ All people was at all times saying ‘no.’ However he didn’t. So I felt there was a small likelihood.”
![Japan's countryside is littered with ghost houses, known as](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152732-01-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Kajiyama returned to go to the homes round 5 instances, earlier than going to go to the proprietor himself to barter an settlement that will see him use the outdated inexperienced tree manufacturing unit as a house, and convert the farmer’s home into the guesthouse he’d at all times envisioned.
Whereas he was eager to buy each of the houses, he explains that the traditions round residence possession in Japan imply that he’s unable to take action till it’s handed right down to the son of the present proprietor.
“They stated ‘in the event you take all of the accountability your self, you may take it.’ So we made an settlement on paper,” he says.
Each he and Hila have been conscious that that they had quite a lot of work forward of them, however the couple, who married in 2013, have been thrilled to be one step nearer to having their very own guesthouse in a really perfect spot.
“It’s a really good location,” says Kajiyama. “It’s near the town, however it’s actually countryside. Additionally folks nonetheless reside right here and go to work [in the city].
“The home can also be in entrance of the river, so once you fall asleep you may hear the sound of the water.”
Based on Kajiyama, the method of clearing the home, which is round 90 years outdated, earlier than starting the renovation works was one of many hardest elements of the method, just because there was a lot stuff to type via. Nonetheless, he was in a position to repurpose a few of the objects.
In the course of the first yr, he spent quite a lot of time connecting with locals, gaining information in regards to the residence, and serving to the native farmers with farming for the primary yr or so.
![He spent around $40,000 renovating the house, completing much of the work himself.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152307-02-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Though he wasn’t vastly skilled with renovation work, he had spent a while farming and finishing constructing whereas he was backpacking, and had additionally taken odd jobs fixing peoples houses.
He accomplished a lot of the work on the guesthouse himself, changing the flooring and including in a rest room, which he says was a marriage current from his dad and mom, at a value of round $10,000.
“I’m probably not knowledgeable,” he says.” I love to do carpentry and I take pleasure in creating issues, however I’ve no expertise in my background.
“From my a number of years of backpacking, I noticed so many fascinating buildings, so many homes of fascinating shapes and I’ve been gathering these in my mind.”
Kajiyama was decided to maintain the home as genuine as doable through the use of conventional supplies.
He saved cash by gathering conventional wooden from constructing corporations who have been within the technique of breaking down conventional homes.
“They should spend the cash to throw it away,” he explains. “However for me, a few of the stuff is like treasure. So I might go and take the fabric that I wished.
“The home is a really, very outdated type,” he says. “So it wouldn’t look good if I introduced in additional fashionable supplies. It’s completely genuine.”
He explains that little or no work had beforehand been carried out to the home, which is sort of uncommon for a house constructed so a few years in the past.
“It’s completely genuine,” he says. “Normally, with conventional homes, some renovations are made to the partitions, as a result of the insulation will not be so robust. So that you lose the type.”
![Yui Valley welcomed its first guests in 2014.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330153347-05-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
He says he obtained some monetary help from the federal government, which meant he was in a position to usher in a carpenter and in addition benefited from Japan’s working holiday program, which permits vacationers to work in change for meals and board, when he wanted further assist.
After doing a little analysis into Japanese guesthouse permits, he found that one of many easiest methods to amass one could be to register the property as an agriculture guesthouse.
As the world is stuffed with bamboo forests, this appeared like a no brainer, and Kajiyama determined to study all the pieces he might about bamboo farming in order that he might mix the 2 companies.
“That is how I began farming,” he says.
In 2014, two years after they started engaged on the home, the couple have been lastly in a position to welcome their first friends.
“It was a stupendous feeling,” says Kajiyama. “After all, this was my dream. However folks actually admire that it was deserted and I introduced it again to life.”
He says that internet hosting friends from everywhere in the world has helped him to remain linked to his former life as a backpacker.
“I keep in a single place, however folks come to me and I really feel like I’m touring,” he says. “As we speak, it’s Australia, tomorrow it’s the UK and subsequent week South Africa and India.
“Folks come from completely different locations they usually invite me to hitch them for dinner, so generally I be a part of somebody’s household life.”
Sadly, Hila handed away from most cancers in 2022. Kajiyama stresses that his beloved spouse performed an enormous half in serving to him obtain his dream of getting a guesthouse and says he couldn’t have carried out it with out her.
“We have been actually collectively,” he provides. “She created this place with me. With out her it could not have been like this.”
Whereas the three-bedroom guesthouse, which measures round 80 sq. meters, has been open for round eight years, Kajiyama continues to be engaged on it, and says he has no thought when he’ll be completed.
“It’s by no means ending,” he admits. “I’m midway, I really feel. It’s lovely already. However it began off deserted, so it wants extra particulars. And I’m getting higher at creating, so I want time to do it.”
![The guesthouse has three bedrooms, which are available to rent for around $120 a night.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152316-04-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
He explains that he’s unable to finish work on the house whereas friends are there. And whereas the property is closed in the course of the winter, he spends two months as a bamboo farmer and often spends a month touring, which doesn’t depart him a lot time for renovations.
“Generally I don’t do something,” he admits.
Yui Valley, which affords actions akin to bamboo weaving workshops, has helped to deliver many vacationers to the village of Tamatori over time.
“Many of the friends come after Tokyo, and it’s such a distinction,” he says. “They’re actually completely happy to share the character and the custom in our home.
“Most individuals have dreamed of coming to Japan for a very long time they usually have a really quick time right here.
“So that they have such a stupendous power. I’m completely happy to host on this method and be a part of their vacation time. It’s very particular [for me].”
Kajiyama estimates that he’s spent round $40,000 on the renovation work up to now, and if the suggestions from friends, and locals, is something to go by, it appears to have been cash properly spent.
“Folks admire what I’ve carried out,” he provides. “In order that makes me really feel particular.”
As for Hiroko, the girl who identified the home to him over a decade in the past, Kajiyama says she’s shocked on the transformation, and is amazed at what number of worldwide vacationers are coming to Tamatori to remain at Yui Valley.
“She can not consider how rather more lovely it’s [now],” he says. “She didn’t suppose it was going to be like this. So she actually appreciates it. She says ‘thanks’ loads.”
Yui Valley, 1170 Okabecho Tamatori, Fujieda, Shizuoka 421-1101, Japan
Editor’s Notice: Join Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get the most recent information in aviation, food and drinks, the place to remain and different journey developments.
CNN
—
He’d spent years backpacking all over the world, and Japanese traveler Daisuke Kajiyama was lastly able to return residence to pursue his long-held dream of opening up a guesthouse.
In 2011, Kajiyama arrived again in Japan along with his Israeli associate Hila, who he met in Nepal, and the pair set about discovering the proper location for his or her future enterprise.
Nonetheless, there have been a few main hindrances of their method. To begin with, Kajiyama had little or no cash to talk of after years of globetrotting round locations like Korea, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Guatemala, Cuba and Canada.
He additionally occurred to have his coronary heart set on a standard Japanese home, usually referred to as kominka, that are often handed down over generations.
“I wished to have a standard home within the countryside,” Kajiyama tells CNN Journey, explaining that he was decided to search out two homes positioned subsequent to one another, in order that he and Hila might reside in a single, whereas the opposite could be a guesthouse that they’d run collectively. “I had a imaginative and prescient.”
![Daisuke and Hila Kajiyama transformed an abandoned farming residence in Japan into a guesthouse.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152312-03-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
When he was unable to search out something that met his necessities, Kajiyama determined to shift his search to incorporate the rising variety of deserted houses within the nation.
As youthful folks ditch rural areas in pursuit of jobs within the metropolis, Japan’s countryside is turning into stuffed with “ghost” homes, or “akiya.”
Based on the Japan Coverage Discussion board, there have been 61 million homes and 52 million households in Japan in 2013, and with the nation’s inhabitants anticipated to say no from 127 million to about 88 million by 2065, this quantity is more likely to improve.
Kajiyama was driving round Tamatori, a small village positioned within the Shizuoka prefecture, between Kyoto and Tokyo, surrounded by inexperienced tea plantations and rice fields, when he got here throughout an aged lady farming, and determined to method her.
“I stated ‘Have you learnt if there are any empty homes round right here?’ And she or he simply pointed,” he remembers.
He seemed over on the space that she was signaling to and noticed two uncared for homes aspect by aspect – a former inexperienced tea manufacturing unit and an outdated farmer’s residence – positioned near a river.
Each properties had been uninhabited for no less than seven years and wanted an enormous quantity of labor. Kajiyama requested the girl to contact the proprietor to search out out in the event that they’d be serious about promoting.
“The proprietor stated that nobody might reside there, because it was deserted,” he says. “However he didn’t say ‘no.’ All people was at all times saying ‘no.’ However he didn’t. So I felt there was a small likelihood.”
![Japan's countryside is littered with ghost houses, known as](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152732-01-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Kajiyama returned to go to the homes round 5 instances, earlier than going to go to the proprietor himself to barter an settlement that will see him use the outdated inexperienced tree manufacturing unit as a house, and convert the farmer’s home into the guesthouse he’d at all times envisioned.
Whereas he was eager to buy each of the houses, he explains that the traditions round residence possession in Japan imply that he’s unable to take action till it’s handed right down to the son of the present proprietor.
“They stated ‘in the event you take all of the accountability your self, you may take it.’ So we made an settlement on paper,” he says.
Each he and Hila have been conscious that that they had quite a lot of work forward of them, however the couple, who married in 2013, have been thrilled to be one step nearer to having their very own guesthouse in a really perfect spot.
“It’s a really good location,” says Kajiyama. “It’s near the town, however it’s actually countryside. Additionally folks nonetheless reside right here and go to work [in the city].
“The home can also be in entrance of the river, so once you fall asleep you may hear the sound of the water.”
Based on Kajiyama, the method of clearing the home, which is round 90 years outdated, earlier than starting the renovation works was one of many hardest elements of the method, just because there was a lot stuff to type via. Nonetheless, he was in a position to repurpose a few of the objects.
In the course of the first yr, he spent quite a lot of time connecting with locals, gaining information in regards to the residence, and serving to the native farmers with farming for the primary yr or so.
![He spent around $40,000 renovating the house, completing much of the work himself.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152307-02-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Though he wasn’t vastly skilled with renovation work, he had spent a while farming and finishing constructing whereas he was backpacking, and had additionally taken odd jobs fixing peoples houses.
He accomplished a lot of the work on the guesthouse himself, changing the flooring and including in a rest room, which he says was a marriage current from his dad and mom, at a value of round $10,000.
“I’m probably not knowledgeable,” he says.” I love to do carpentry and I take pleasure in creating issues, however I’ve no expertise in my background.
“From my a number of years of backpacking, I noticed so many fascinating buildings, so many homes of fascinating shapes and I’ve been gathering these in my mind.”
Kajiyama was decided to maintain the home as genuine as doable through the use of conventional supplies.
He saved cash by gathering conventional wooden from constructing corporations who have been within the technique of breaking down conventional homes.
“They should spend the cash to throw it away,” he explains. “However for me, a few of the stuff is like treasure. So I might go and take the fabric that I wished.
“The home is a really, very outdated type,” he says. “So it wouldn’t look good if I introduced in additional fashionable supplies. It’s completely genuine.”
He explains that little or no work had beforehand been carried out to the home, which is sort of uncommon for a house constructed so a few years in the past.
“It’s completely genuine,” he says. “Normally, with conventional homes, some renovations are made to the partitions, as a result of the insulation will not be so robust. So that you lose the type.”
![Yui Valley welcomed its first guests in 2014.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330153347-05-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
He says he obtained some monetary help from the federal government, which meant he was in a position to usher in a carpenter and in addition benefited from Japan’s working holiday program, which permits vacationers to work in change for meals and board, when he wanted further assist.
After doing a little analysis into Japanese guesthouse permits, he found that one of many easiest methods to amass one could be to register the property as an agriculture guesthouse.
As the world is stuffed with bamboo forests, this appeared like a no brainer, and Kajiyama determined to study all the pieces he might about bamboo farming in order that he might mix the 2 companies.
“That is how I began farming,” he says.
In 2014, two years after they started engaged on the home, the couple have been lastly in a position to welcome their first friends.
“It was a stupendous feeling,” says Kajiyama. “After all, this was my dream. However folks actually admire that it was deserted and I introduced it again to life.”
He says that internet hosting friends from everywhere in the world has helped him to remain linked to his former life as a backpacker.
“I keep in a single place, however folks come to me and I really feel like I’m touring,” he says. “As we speak, it’s Australia, tomorrow it’s the UK and subsequent week South Africa and India.
“Folks come from completely different locations they usually invite me to hitch them for dinner, so generally I be a part of somebody’s household life.”
Sadly, Hila handed away from most cancers in 2022. Kajiyama stresses that his beloved spouse performed an enormous half in serving to him obtain his dream of getting a guesthouse and says he couldn’t have carried out it with out her.
“We have been actually collectively,” he provides. “She created this place with me. With out her it could not have been like this.”
Whereas the three-bedroom guesthouse, which measures round 80 sq. meters, has been open for round eight years, Kajiyama continues to be engaged on it, and says he has no thought when he’ll be completed.
“It’s by no means ending,” he admits. “I’m midway, I really feel. It’s lovely already. However it began off deserted, so it wants extra particulars. And I’m getting higher at creating, so I want time to do it.”
![The guesthouse has three bedrooms, which are available to rent for around $120 a night.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230330152316-04-body-abandoned-japanese-home-into-guesthouse.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
He explains that he’s unable to finish work on the house whereas friends are there. And whereas the property is closed in the course of the winter, he spends two months as a bamboo farmer and often spends a month touring, which doesn’t depart him a lot time for renovations.
“Generally I don’t do something,” he admits.
Yui Valley, which affords actions akin to bamboo weaving workshops, has helped to deliver many vacationers to the village of Tamatori over time.
“Many of the friends come after Tokyo, and it’s such a distinction,” he says. “They’re actually completely happy to share the character and the custom in our home.
“Most individuals have dreamed of coming to Japan for a very long time they usually have a really quick time right here.
“So that they have such a stupendous power. I’m completely happy to host on this method and be a part of their vacation time. It’s very particular [for me].”
Kajiyama estimates that he’s spent round $40,000 on the renovation work up to now, and if the suggestions from friends, and locals, is something to go by, it appears to have been cash properly spent.
“Folks admire what I’ve carried out,” he provides. “In order that makes me really feel particular.”
As for Hiroko, the girl who identified the home to him over a decade in the past, Kajiyama says she’s shocked on the transformation, and is amazed at what number of worldwide vacationers are coming to Tamatori to remain at Yui Valley.
“She can not consider how rather more lovely it’s [now],” he says. “She didn’t suppose it was going to be like this. So she actually appreciates it. She says ‘thanks’ loads.”
Yui Valley, 1170 Okabecho Tamatori, Fujieda, Shizuoka 421-1101, Japan