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He was backpacking around the world for years. Japanese traveler Kawayama Daisuke was ready to finally go back to his home and pursue his long-standing dream of opening a guesthouse.
In 2011, Kajiyama returned to Japan with his Israeli partner Hira.
But there were some big stumbling blocks in their way. To begin with, Kajiyama had little money to talk to after the Earth-sama for many years around destinations such as Korea, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Guatemala, Cuba, Canada and more.
He also placed his mind in a traditional Japanese house, usually known as Cominca.
“I wanted to own a traditional home in the countryside,” Kajiyama tells CNN trip, explaining that he has decided to find two houses next to each other so that he and Hira can live in one, so that they will become a guesthouse where he and Hira run together. “I had a vision.”
When he was unable to find anything that met his requirements, Kajiyama decided to shift his search to include an increase in abandoned homes in the country.
As young people pursue urban jobs and abandon their rural areas, Japan's countryside is becoming full of “ghosts” homes, or “aquiyas.”
According to the Japan Policy Forum, this number could increase as Japan had 61 million homes and 52 million households in 2013, and is expected to fall to around 88 million by 2065.
Kawayama drove Tamatori, a small village in Shizukawa Prefecture, between Kyoto and Tokyo.
“I know, 'Do you know if there's an empty house around here?' And she just pointed out,” he recalls.
He looked over the area she signaled, finding two neglected houses side by side – a former green tea factory and an old farmhouse near the river.
Both properties were unattended for at least seven years and required a huge amount of work. Kajiyama asked the woman to contact the owner to find out if she was interested in selling.
“The owner said that because it was abandoned, no one could live there,” he says. “But he didn't say 'no'. Everyone always said “no.” But he wasn't.
After five visits to the house, Kajiyama visited the owner himself and negotiated a contract to use the old Green Tree Factory as the house and convert the farmhouse into a guesthouse he had always imagined.
He wanted to buy both homes, but he explains that the Japanese tradition of home ownership means that it cannot be done until it is passed down to the son of the present owner.
“They said, 'If you take all the responsibility yourself, you can take it.' So we agreed to the paper,” he says.
He and Hira both knew they had a lot of work before them, but the couple, who married in 2013, were excited to take a step closer to having their own guesthouse in the ideal location.
“It's a very nice place,” Kajiyama says. “It's close to the city, but it's really rural. And people still live here and go to work (in the city).
“The house is in front of the river, so when you fall asleep you can hear the sound of water.”
According to Kajiyama, the process of cleaning up a home around 90 before the renovation began was one of the most difficult parts of the process simply because there was a lot to organize. However, he was able to reuse some items.
In his first year, he spent much time connecting with local people, gaining knowledge about the home, and for the first year, local farmers supported farming.
He had little experience in renovation work, but he spent some time during his backpacking farming and completing the buildings, doing some odd jobs repairing people's homes.
He completed many of his guesthouse jobs, replaced the floors and added them to the toilet. He was a wedding present from his parents and cost him around $10,000.
“I'm not a really expert,” he says. “I like to work as a carpenter and I like to make things, but I have no experience in my background.
“From my backpacking years, I have seen so many interesting buildings, so many interesting shaped houses.
Kajiyama has decided to keep the home as authentic as possible by using traditional materials.
He saved money by collecting traditional wood from construction companies that were in the process of destroying traditional homes.
“They need to spend money to throw it away,” he explains. “But for me, some things are like treasures, so I'll go and get the material I wanted.
“The house is in a very old style,” he says. “So I think I'd be fine with more modern materials. It's completely authentic.”
He explains that there has been very few jobs done at home before.
“It's completely authentic,” he says. “Usually, traditional homes don't have much insulation, so there are some renovations on the walls, which means they lose their style.”
He says he received some financial support from the government. In other words, we were able to bring in carpenters and benefited from Japan's working holiday program.
After conducting a survey of Japanese guesthouse permits, he discovered that registering real estate as an agricultural guesthouse is one of the easiest ways to do so.
This seems easy as the area is filled with bamboo forests, and Kajiyama decided to learn everything he could about bamboo farming so that the two businesses could combine.
“This is how I started farming,” he says.
In 2014, two years after they started working at home, the couple finally managed to welcome their first guests.
“It was a beautiful feeling,” Kajiyama says. “Of course, this was my dream. But people really appreciated it being abandoned and I brought it back to life.”
He says hosting guests from all over the world has helped him maintain his connection to his previous life as a backpacker.
“I stay in one place, but people come to me and I feel like I'm traveling,” he says. “Today, it's Australia, tomorrow will be the UK and next week in South Africa and India.
“People come from different places and invite me to join in for dinner, so sometimes I get involved in someone else's family life.”
Sadly, Hira passed away from cancer in 2022. Kajiyama says he could have played a major role in helping his beloved wife achieve her dream of having a guesthouse, and could not have done it without her.
“We were really together,” he adds. “She created this place with me. Without her, it wouldn't have been like this.”
The approximately 80 square metre three-bedroom guesthouse has been open for about eight years, but Kawayama says he is still working on it and doesn't know when it will end.
“It's never finished,” he admits. “I'm on the way, I feel. It's already beautiful. But it's starting to be abandoned, so it needs more details. And I need time to do it.”
He explains that he cannot complete work at home while the guests are there. And although the property is closed during the winter, he spends two months as a bamboo farmer, usually a month's trip.
“Sometimes I don't do anything,” he admits.
Offering activities such as bamboo workshops, Yui Valley has helped bring many tourists to Tamatori village over the years.
“Most of the guests come after Tokyo, and that's very contrasting,” he says. “They are truly pleased to share the nature and traditions of our home.
“Most people have long dreamed of coming to Japan and spend a very short time here.
“So they have such a beautiful energy. I'm happy to host this way and participate in their holidays. It's very special (for me).”
Kajiyama seems to have spent about $40,000 on renovation work up until now, and if anything feedback from guests and locals took place, it was well spent money.
“People are grateful for what I did,” he added. “That's why I feel special.”
As for Hiroko, about the woman who pointed out his home over a decade ago, Kajiyama says she is unsure of change and is surprised by the number of international travelers who come to Tamatori to stay in Yui Valley.
“She can't believe how beautiful it is (now),” he says. “She didn't think it would turn out like this, so she's really grateful. She says 'Thank you.' ”
Yui Valley, 1170 Okabecho Tamatori, Fujieda, Shimaoka 421-1101, Japan