Japan Simple Life

Was clearing some bamboo with the chainsaw yesterday and as it was quite warm and sticky so decided to forego the kevlar chainsaw chaps, I mean what...

So we finally got round to getting the kitchen floor replaced. We got a carpenter to do this as we get half the cost of it paid for by the city. It's...

Woke up to a proper winter wonderland scene yesterday morning.

Luckily it was all gone by lunch time and not heavy enough to damage our poly...

Years ago I had a Manx, and since then I've fallen in love with short-tailed cats. At some point in the nearish future (probably after I move to...

What is the visa/permit situation for a foreigner like me, to either buy or rent a property and start something long term? I can go to the Japanese...

I'm demolishing a couple feeble outbuildings with tsuchikabe earthen walls. It seems like a great material and I'm keeping some in rice bags To try...

We are making a rare trip to Kobe and I want to visit a home center to check out some options for our renovation. The home centers aren't so great in...

I'm not the biggest fan of wellies as they make my feet and legs sweat uncomfortably so my main work boots are generally Caterpillar or Timberland...

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I bought my twenty year-old house here in Kumamoto last April.
The previous owner really didn't do much in the way of home...

There is a concrete tile roof on a house i am renovating that appears to leak sometimes in a few spots. The concrete tiles appear to be in pretty...

Picked up a couple of tulips and some other springtime plants a few days ago.

Anyone have any tips for keeping potted plants like tulips flowering...

So, you lifers that actually have something left at the end of the month, what do you do with it?

If I were in America I'd transfer the money to...

This wood store grew out of a conversation with Johnny LaRue over on the old forum where we were talking about method for storing a large amount of...

About 2 months ago, the family went to a mall, and I killed some time wandering around Kaldi Coffee. I saw a packet of dates for 200 or so yen, and...

The Mr. and I have been looking at properties in the deep inaka of Aichi-ken. We found a kominka that we like and feel will suit our grander,...

This year we moved into a mansion on 1F and noticed eventually that during winter there was quite a lot of perspiration on windows everyday, so we...

As a lot of us know from first hand experience, Japan lags way behind in house insulation.
Recently it might be getting better with the popularity...

Hey guys, it's been a while. I've recently come to the conclusion that paying upwards of 1mil yen a year in rent is basically just pouring money down...