Japan House: AHHHHHH!!!!!

In a couple of days, I'll be on an airplane heading to Osaka. Landing on Saturday afternoon, I have a room at the Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport for the evening. On Sunday morning, I'll pick up the rental car and head toward Daito to finally see the house in person.

 At least that's the plan.

There are a couple of days left before I leave, and the property management company has an — I'll call it interesting — schedule. (They're closed Wednesdays and every 2nd and 4th Tuesday; with time shift...It's a whole thing.) In theory, work should be complete. A key lockbox should be installed. I won't have actual confirmation of that until tomorrow (Thursday) at the earliest, but it's more likely not until I'm either in the air or checked in to my first night's hotel.

A little nerve-racking for the vague plan of "Go to Japan. Stay in my empty house for two weeks." Not too worried, though. I can work out an alternative if the house isn't quite ready.

A small experiment to see if I can get things shipped to the house is currently underway; we'll see how it goes with a pair of house slippers.

Japan House: First Round Fixes Price Update

 The first round of livability fixes land at ¥304,260. (~$1.9K on 2026.01.15) This should include some electrical work, tatami mat work, and new wall paper down stairs. That's honestly pretty reasonable.

I've really planned not much for the upcoming trip.  I'm going to be working my day job remotely, then doing house and tourist stuff in the afternoons and evenings.  For the first week, I'll have a rental car so I can buy and move bulkier items.

Japan House: First Fixes and First Visit Planning

 Before the end of the year, I need to give an update on this side project.

I've received quotes for all of the initial rounds of repairs needed on the house and asked that they be handled soon, before the end of January, according to the property management company. It's taken a bit of time to get to this point, but that's mostly because I'm working with a property management company to handle this stuff remotely.

In February, I'm going to Osaka for a couple of weeks. I've booked a hotel for exactly one night, the night I arrive at Kansai. After that, I'm going full StruggleBus and living in my vacation house for a couple of weeks. During the day (6:30am to 2:30pm), working my day job; in the afternoons and evenings, shopping and setting up the house for future visits.

My first full day in Osaka will start with picking up my rental car, then driving to Daito to finally see the house with my own eyes. To walk through it. To just enjoy the novelty of owning a completely blank slate vacation sanctuary.

Then I'll need to go shopping immediately.

Things that I will need to buy on Day One are...

• Futon/bedding for 2

• Towels + toilet paper + soap + toothbrush/toothpaste

• Fridge + microwave + kettle

• Dish soap/sponge + 2 place settings + trash bags

• Small table + 2 chairs (or floor chairs)

• Hand soap + basic cleaner + broom

After that, I'll figure it out once I've had a chance to completely map and model the house.

I'm really looking forward to it!

The car that I'm renting is very specifically a Daihatsu Roomy. My property manager confirmed that their Room will fit in the garage.

Japan House: Power to the People

Power and gas have been connected (Osaka Gas Company) and the property manager has checked out the house to give me a report. It’s going to be just a little more work than I thought to make the place livable as a vacation home.

Prime concerns are that some electrical outlets and lights aren’t working. I’ve asked to have an electrician check the place out and make repairs as needed.

The faucet in the tub leaks. I’ve asked to have that replaced.

The wallpaper in the kitchen and living room are garbage. I’ve asked for a quote to replace that with similarly colored wallpaper. I’ll probably change it later but for now I don’t want to have the house looking like total ass.

For now, everything else is a deferred concern.

Order of priority:

1. Get the house electrically sorted.
2. Fix the leaking tub valves.
3. Clean up the REALLY bad walls with fresh paper.
4. Visit and make plans for a mild renovation.

Japan House: International Payment Success!

 My efforts at getting good at Japanese have paid off; I was able to successfully squirt my monthly property management payment over to the real estate/property management company's (just PEC from now on) bank account yesterday afternoon.  WISE and the bank accepted the payment, and this morning, the PEC sent me confirmation that they had received the funds.

Woot! One more win on the "Dumb shit American buys an abandoned house--sight unseen--in Japan as a vacation home!"

I'm told that gas, electricity, and water service will be connected up tomorrow. I should also obtain confirmation of the property's condition, and then start plotting repairs and upgrades.

I'm super excited.

Japan House: International Payment Fun

It's been a few weeks since the property management contract was signed. In theory, it took effect on November 1, 2025. There are, however, complications.

In particular, making payments is turning out to be an enormous pain directly in the ass. Previously mentioned, vacation property management is a new line of business for the real estate company I'm working with. The current difficulty is trying to get them paid.

We've settled on WISE as the transfer vehicle. For a small, WISE will let me transfer money from my WISE account directly to the Real Estate Company's bank account in Japanes Yen. I've used this before to buy and import kei cars, and even to buy a house in Daito City. WISE works awesome...when it works.

So far, I've had some issues getting the payment to go through. There's a disconnect between what WISE needs (Account Holder Name) and the information that I've received from the real estate company. Working through this issue has been a bit tedious.

• There's timezone wonkiness.  12:00 PM here is 5:50 AM (+1 Day) in Osaka.
• The real estate company is closed for a couple of days this week. Any email I've sent asking for clarification isn't being answered until they return to the office.
• The questions that I've asked will require some research on their side as well as mine, further adding to the delay cycle time.

In the meantime, I've been breaking down the information I have using some translation tools (and my own meager skills in Japanese) to try a couple of different recipient name combinations, in the hope that one of them will work without being rejected.

Again, I have to remind myself that this isn't a race, I need to be patient.

Japan House: Property Management Contracts

Things take time and work in a certain way. I have to remind myself of that. The speed at which I want to push forward on getting things going for my joint in Daito does not match reality in some cases. Lining up property management has been one of those things.

It's set up now, by the way. 

Japan House: Remote [Property] Management

TL;DR

Everything takes longer than you expect or want when you're communicating over email in a language that you're, at best, a first-year student of. 

• Relax, take a breath.
• Don't reply immediately if you don't have to; consider it for a moment first.
• The process works in its own time. Just go with it.

To make my life easier, I asked my real estate agent in Japan for a recommendation for a vacation property manager. They connected me with my current property manager, Tokunaga-san, from SR Real Estate.

Japan House: Insurance!

TL;DR

Fire and Earthquake insurance for the vacation home in Daito is approximately $35 per month. (For the next five years, per the exchange rate on 2025.09.29)

This is a pleasant surprise! I have phone app subscriptions that cost more per month. (I really need to review my subscriptions again.)

Japan House: Buying a second home in Japan.

TL;DR

Cutting to the chase, I bought a house in Daito, Osaka prefecture. My offer was ¥5.2M, which was accepted. My total at closing was ¥5.7 million (~$ 38,000 USD), which included real estate agent fees, scrivener fees, city taxes, registration license taxes, and other associated costs. 

Adding in the fees paid to the company that managed the purchasing process, I'm at $ 44,000 USD. I'll chat about that later.

EuroTrip

 Spent two and a half weeks wandering around Europe, specifically Munich, Stuttgart, Paris, Cologne, and Amsterdam.  Long trip, probably a little too long to be completely honest. Had a hell of a good time while also getting to the point where I was very keen on having the trip over and done with.

Just going to hit the highlights for each place.

A matter of substance.

The COVID TimeLine hasn't been great for a lot of people, I'm no exception. During this period I've felt more isolated and lonely than ever. It hasn't been unmanageable. Unfortunately some of the ways I've been managing are neither productive or healthy.

Boiled down, I'm conscious that I've been drinking a lot more. Problematically, I'm drinking more when I'm bored or lonely. This has almost become habitual. A bit like boredom or fugue eating, but with adult beverages.

Life Update

It's been a minute since I've posted here.

Anyway...

To date, 2022 has been pretty low key.  Less boring than 2021 for sure.  These are the highlights so.

2021 By Month

 Highs

• Bought a car that I've been thinking about since 1998.
• Two road trips, one to Colorado and one through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
• Vaccination. (First and second Pfizer, then the booster in November.)
• Hanging out with [vaccinated] friends at the Cal Academy of Science for the first real social experience since the start of the Pandemic.
• Helped my Parental Unit clean up and prepare to move from Colorado to Michigan.
• Got to see one of my sets of aunts/uncles and one of my cousins I haven't seen in a very long time.
• Upgraded my eyeballs to contact lenses.
• Received a work promotion.

Lows

• I feel like I've become even more isolated and estranged from the friends and communities I already had trouble keeping connected to.
• My fuck-off deep sense of loneliness grew deeper this year.  I haven't found a comfortable way to express my feelings more generally with out feeling like a shit heel.
• Helping my sisters and mother deal with the fallout from a scam moving broker who stole my mom's money and left her sitting high-and-dry.
• Realizing that it's more likely than not that I'll never see my aunts/uncles in person again. (And possibly my mom, as well.)
• Learning that one of my dogs has started down the long path kidney failure.

Books read in 2021

Leviathan Falls (By: James S.A. Corey)

Velocity Weapon (By: Megan E. O'Keefe)

Redshirts (By: John Scalzi)

The End of All Things (By: John Scalzi)

The Devil’s Candy (By: Julie Salamon)

Asylum (By: Lindsay Buroker)

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (By: Carlo M. Cipolla, Nassim Nicholas Taleb - foreword)

Ready Player Two (By: Ernest Cline)

The Demon-Haunted World (By: Carl Sagan)

Project Hail Mary (By: Andy Weir)

Tiamat's Wrath (By: James S. A. Corey)

Persepolis Rising (By: James S. A. Corey)

Babylon's Ashes (By: James S. A. Corey)

Nemesis Games (By: James S. A. Corey)

Cibola Burn (By: James S. A. Corey)

Abaddon's Gate (By: James S. A. Corey)

Caliban's War (By: James S. A. Corey)

Leviathan Wakes (By: James S. A. Corey)

One Nation Under God (By: Kevin M. Kruse)

Battle Ground (By: Jim Butcher)

The Rogue Prince (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Console Wars (By: Blake J. Harris)

Layers of Force (By: Lindsay Buroker)

A Hole in the Sky (By: Peter F. Hamilton)

Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark (By: Claudia Gray)

Qalea Drop (By: Joel Shepherd)

The Innovator's Dilemma (By: Clayton M. Christensen)

Planet Killer (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Home Front (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Star Kingdom Omnibus II (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Star Wars: Light of the Jedi (By: Charles Soule)

Extreme Frontiers (By: Charley Boorman)

Couple of days on from Folsom Weekend and I feel disappointed—and a little angry—that I missed it. Plans with friends failed to gel at the last minute without any time to scrape up alternate arrangements so I bounced on it.  Now that I’m seeing the occasional post and pic from friends who did go…well…yeah. It hurts.

I should just give the fuck up.

I'm putting an indefinite pin in migrating out of California.

The reality of the situation is that my primary reason for relocating hasn't existed for thirteen months. The overwhelming driver was to be nearer my remaining ParentalUnit in the event of an incident. That need evaporated when said ParentalUnit announced their intention to move into a senior's community close to one of my SiblingUnits.

COVID-19 shot my secondary relocation reason in the face. My work world shifted 100% virtual nine months ago and will continue to be 100% virtual for the next year. There is no "physical office" for me to relocate to--presently--that is "better for my career" with my current employer. It's unclear what the office and remote work landscape are going to look like when The Virus Timeline resolves itself.

My tertiary reason was stupid and should never have been a reason in the first place. As tough a pill to swallow as it is, simply moving somewhere else won't make me a happier person. My happiness grind is that I'm lonely. Moving won't make me not lonely, I'll just be lonely somewhere else. It was always in the back of my mind that relocating for the other two reasons would also mean a change of social scenery that could be good but in and of itself isn't a strong reason to move.

Until significantly compelling reasons again emerge, I'm going to be sticking around the Bay Area.

Everything went bear-shaped.

Yesterday afternoon a friend stuffed me into a large inflatable/wearable pool toy thing.  I have some thoughts.

 

The TLDR regarding to the pool toy aesthetic, it is not my jam. I get it. I understand it. It's not a thing that personally attracts me. It wasn't a thing I had to worry or think about too much and didn't detract from the fun, tho.

The overall experience is a bit more nuanced. This particular experience was about trying a new thing, not about finding a headspace in it.  I did, kinda, briefly. That was kinda cool.  I can see a path toward a head space that could work for me if I want to follow it there in the future.

Stuff that I dug:

• Sensory Deprivation - I had practically zero spacial awareness.  Couldn't see. Couldn't smell anything other pool-toy vinyl. My hearing was muffled. My movement was--at best--difficult. The awkwardness of it was blissfully disorienting.
• Comfort - Being zipped up a bear-shaped plastic bladder was surprisingly comfortable. When I wasn't worrying about falling over--only a small worry--the feeling of PVC compressing in from all sides was blissful. The more it was pumped up the more comfortable it became.  The warmth/heat inside of it was also very comforting. A relaxed state came quite easily.
• Restriction - More than the feel of clouds gently compressing in from all around, you also become pretty useless. You're pretty much stuck in there, wherever you're standing, until somebody takes you out. That was interesting.

Stuff I didn't dig:

• Concerted effort to keep the breathing tube in my mouth - There's some risk with this experience, fortunately I throughly trust the person I was playing with so I never felt that I was in any danger. That said, you've got keep conscious about biting down on the breathing tube to make sure it stays in your mouth.  It's not so bad when the thing is really well pumped up but a lower pressures, it could be a problem. I think that this would better with either a modified CPAP mask and anesthesia mask strapped around the victim's head, especially for longer-term sensory deprivation experiences.

There's bliss to be found in being bubbled up inside rolled into the corner for a few hours to just chill out and ponder the nature of existence. I've always been curious about inflatable sleep-sacks. now I know that's probably very much up my alley in terms of sense dep. The outward aesthetic, well...I don't know that it matters all that to me as the person inside of it so on that front, whatever works for somebody else is fine by me.

It's been a minute.

It's been a minute since I've used this blog. Coming back to it as a place to ramble about things I need to ramble about that don't fit well in Twitter's short 240 characters.

Weekend thing.

The weekend was fairly down-beat, relaxed.  Somewhat frustrating in that way but not without some fun.

Friday night was pretty quiet.  Spent it at home dorking around with the BMW and a few cans of Plasti-Dip.  The hood of my car is now bears a rubber coating.  Woot.  Or something.

Saturday I woke up early enough to drive the BMW up to Alice's for breakfast with a friend, then scooted over to the Canepa Design open house in Scott's Valley.  That was a fun walking tour of automotive history and greatness.  Very much a good thing!  After that just hung out with friends, dorked around cars and then headed home around 10pm in the evening.

A few photos from Canepa - First, some Porsche 959s.  Is you know what these are then you know why it's significant that there are four of them in this shop being worked on.  It's also significant to note that apart from these four currently being worked on there were at least four other 959s at Canepa, a not insignificant number of the 337 of these that Porsche built.

Next, a panno of one of the other large portions of the Canepa garages.  There's a lot of very expensive inventory in this room.  Race cars, cobaras, two BMW M1s, some customs, a couple of Lambos, a Bugatti Veyron...And they just let you wander around all of it, as close as you like.  Such a good day.

Sunday was spent at home cleaning.  Sweeping floors (my roommate sheds like a dog, it's a bit crazy), picking up and mopping the kitchen, laundry and picking up around my room.  I also finished off the box of shiraz that had been lurking on my kitchen counter as it was nearing the end of it's useful life.

So yeah, generally speaking, it was a pretty down beat and casual weekend.  Not great, not bad. It just was.