A traditional home in the countryside is the setting for this amazing guesthouse, which is recommended by a Japan travel guide. Daisuke Kajiyama demonstrates that a little money and ingenuity are all that is required to renovate an old house and start an Airbnb business. Insider reported that Daisuke spent seven years traveling the world before returning home to open a guesthouse with his late wife, Hila.

Daisuke, 40, met his Israeli wife in Nepal and decided to move to Japan together. Daisuke, a Japanese national, left Japan shortly after graduating from college to travel the world and work in places such as Portugal, Thailand, and Canada. He hadn’t been back to Tamatori, a picturesque hamlet in Shizuoka prefecture known for its bamboo forests and rice fields, in a long time.

“We didn’t know what to expect, so it was a mystery for both of us,” he explained. “I’d been away for so long that it didn’t even feel like it was my country.” Daisuke had always wanted to open a guesthouse in a traditional Japanese house. Finding the ideal house to renovate, on the other hand, required effort. He explained that because many people are hesitant to sell their empty homes because their families still use them as storage, the idea of looking for an abandoned traditional house came to him.

An old lady helped him find his needed house while he was wandering around the neighborhood. She informed him of two vacant structures nearby: a former green tea factory and an old farmer’s home. Daisuke met the owner, who thought the house was too run-down to live in. “But he didn’t say no, so I figured I had a shot,” Daisuke explained.

For the next month, he negotiated with the owner until he agreed to let him use the green tea factory and the old farmer’s house. He decided to live at the factory and run the guesthouse out of the old farmer’s house. Daisuke does not pay rent to the original owner, who still owns the properties. The agreement is for him to take full responsibility for the house, including the renovation costs.

Daisuke claims that their agreement is typical of regional customs. “This isn’t about business. “It’s not about the money,” he explained. “The family will be happy for many abandoned houses as long as someone can take care of them.” Daisuke claims that he and the proprietor get along well and that they would continue to work together even if there were no financial transactions.

Daisuke, on the other hand, had lofty ambitions for his guesthouse. It had been abandoned for seven years, and the house had been left exactly as it had been found.
He claims that, despite the house’s appearance, the wooden parts are all original. Nothing has changed in the house in its 96-year history, he continued. Daisuke claims to have some construction knowledge from odd jobs he did while traveling.

“I had already planned to open a guesthouse while traveling, so I shifted my focus to jobs related to my plans, such as agriculture and roofing,” he explained. He also used Japan’s working holiday program to hire seasonal workers. Working holiday information in Japan can usually be found in any Japan travel guide. Daisuke explained that program participants would help him fix his house in exchange for free food and lodging.

Daisuke recycled as much of the old house’s furnishings as he could due to his limited funds. “What I don’t need, I throw away, and what I think I should keep, I keep,” he explained. He also repurposed materials from other homes that were being demolished. “Because I didn’t have a lot of money, I would usually look for another traditional house.” “I would get old wood, doors, and windows from them before they demolished the house,” Daisuke explained.

The abandoned house that Kajyama and his late wife began working on in 2012 took about two years to restore. Daisuke estimates that he spent between $40,000 and $50,000 on the project, which included repairing the guesthouse and the old green tea factory where he lives. “There was no toilet. “It was outside, like a big hole,” Daisuke explained.

“Just building the toilets cost nearly $10,000.” The natural surroundings, according to Daisuke, are the best part of the guest, which is consistent with positive reviews of Yui Valley on Japan travel guide sites. “What I like about traditional houses is the beautiful connection between the inside and outside,” Daisuke said. “It’s eerily quiet.”