The search for the Tsukahara home started over ten years ago. In Japan , homes are not advertised like they are here (at least not in the countryside). In the U.S. , a person can find just about any house they want in the country just by using the MLS and a property search. Not so in Japan. It depends on which websites you luckily find and also who knows the areas of interest. If the property is sold by a realtor, then it might be advertised on the net. Most homes require word of mouth to be sold. Many homes don’t even have a "sold" sign posted. This makes it very difficult to find a house in the short time span of a vacation. Many realtors only know about their properties thus limiting the choices. One realtor even turned down Erika, who is a Japanese citizen, by refusing to show a house which we were seriously interested in. According to him, we shouldn’t bother the seller’s privacy until we move to Japan .
If you find a “For Sale” sign on a property, don’t approach the owner directly! We made that mistake. The owner seriously scolded Erika and told her that things are not done that way. It took a lot of apologies, bowing, and kind words to get the owner to settle down just to talk with her. It also took a lot of time driving around, asking people where the owner lived. In the Japan countryside, streets don’t have names and numbers. People are found by their names, not by their address. For example, if you are handed a map of a residential area, the map has the owner’s names instead of addresses. Since we didn’t know anyone, this made any map including a GPS navigator, useless. We spent hours and hours wandering and searching for a place to live. We often found ourselves staring at a house and we couldn’t tell if it was on sale. So, why make it a big secret? Privacy is important in Japanese society, especially in a small village. If a small rumor gets out, soon everyone knows about it. The best thing to do is not tell anyone.
So, how did we find this home? Erika spent many hours, days, years, searching the internet. We had to narrow down what we wanted. I knew I wanted to live somewhere away from the city. Seattle is too big for me. I always wanted to live in the countryside. The most beautiful countryside I had ever seen was in Yufuin. Erika stumbled upon a house on the internet that a realtor in Oita City was selling. The advertisement mentioned 360 degree views. The photograph in the ad wasn’t clear, but we were curious. The asking price was also a little high. Our next vacation was planned around looking at that house and others in the area.
George