Today I’d like to share an interesting video about two American men living in Japan and hunting old Japanese houses. They call themselves “Akiya hantaa,” (空き家ハンター) hunters of vacant houses. They recently turned their passion for old Japanese house into a business, and a new TV show is featuring their work. It’s an excellent opportunity to not only get to see the details in traditional houses and learn about historical architecture, but to practice your comprehension since they speak Japanese very well and at a moderate pace.
Watch the video in Japanese, then try and answer the questions below to see how much you understood.
QUIZ (Intermediate/advanced level)
1) 二人は、いつ一緒に会社を設立しましたか？
Futari wa itu isshoni kaisha wo seturitu shimashitaka?
When did the two start a company together?
2) 空き家ビジネスを始めたきっかけは？
Akiya bujinesu wo hajimeta kikkake wa?
What made them start the vacant houses business?
3) どんな空き家が人気で、どんな空き家が人気ないですか？
Donna akiya ga ninki de donna akiya ga ninki naidesuka?
What kind of vacant houses are popular and unpopular?
4) 最近の主流は何ですか？
Saikin no shuryuu wa nandesuka?
What is common practice these days?
5) 最近印象に残った物件は？ その家で購入者が気に入った一つの理由は？
Saikin inshou ni nokotta bukken wa? Sono iede kounyuusha ga kiniitta hitotu no riyuu wa?
What house made an impression on them lately? What is one of the reasons the buyer liked that house?
ANSWERS
1) 2年前に設立しました。
Ninenmae ni seturitu shimashita.
They started two years ago.
2) コロナ禍で、都内を離れて田舎に移住したい外国人が急増したため、日本全国を回って、空き家の情報を提供することにしました。
Korona ka de tonai wo hanarete inaka ni ijuu shitai gaikokujin ga kyuuzou shitatame, nihon zenkoku wo mawatte akiya no jouhou wo teikyou suru koto ni shimashita.
Due to the pandemic, the number of foreigners based in Japan who wanted to live in the countryside exploded, so they started looking at empty houses all over Japan.
3) 洋風の空き家はあまり人気なくて、こだわりがあったり、典型的な日本の家が一番人気です。
Youfuu no akiya wa amari ninki nakute, kodawari ga attari, tenkeitekina nihon no ie ga ichiban ninki desu.
Western style houses are not very popular, and typical Japanese houses with some specialties are most popular.
4) 処分にお金がかからないので、家財道具も全部まとめて売ることが多いです。
Shobun ni okane ga kakaranai node, kazai dougu mo zenbu matomete uru koto ga ooidesu.
It is common to sell the house together with all the household goods, as it saves money on not having to tidy or get rid of them.
5) 過去に、神社の宿坊だった家が彼らの印象に残っています。宿坊で使われていた配膳台やおわん、囲炉裏がそのまま残っていたところが、珍しくて気に入った理由の一つです。
Kako ni jinja no shukubou datta ie ga karera no inshou ni nokotteimasu. Shukubou de tukawareteita haizendai ya owan, irori ga sono mama nokotteita tokoro ga, mezurashikute kiniitta riyuu no hitotu desu.
A house that used to be a shrine’s lodging — one of the reasons he liked it is that the dish carts, the bowls and irori fireplace were still intact, which is rare.