Decisions, Decisions

Although we had a few more companies on our shortlist, busy work schedules meant that our next engagement would have to be the open house with the first builder that we saw and not a meeting with someone new. We had hoped to meet a new company next but time had not allowed us to do so.

I should point out that, by this point, we had already informed the second builder that we wouldn’t be going any further with them. We told them that we had come to realize that English ability was really important to us and that we foresaw various communication difficulties and points of stress. They seemed pretty understanding.

Now, when it comes to open houses, in Japan there are basically two types of approach that building companies adopt. One is to build beautiful model homes (often in rather Disney-esque model villages) which show off their products. The other is to encourage buyers to view real houses that they have recently built.

The latter might seem annoying for new homeowners but it’s kind of a cycle of goodwill in that the new homeowners probably traipsed through someone else’s new home themselves before signing on the dotted line and so feel compelled to return the favor. It may be that the model home type companies also employ this real show home practice but we didn’t have any experience of that so I can’t say for certain whether they do.

A typical (expensive-looking) show house on a model street in Osaka. Not sure if the elephant is included.

Another large show house. They are having a "solar fair" promotional event. 

An odd show house that looks like it should be in Disneyland. Who wouldn't want their very own princess tower?

As mentioned before, this builder does have their own little village but it’s more of a working space made up of very old buildings showing a few materials, stoves and techniques than a true show home setup. That’s just as well as we’re not hugely keen on the show home concept. It seems like a very expensive way to market your product and you can probably already put your finger on who ends up paying for these things in the end.

We were pretty excited to go and see the house. We had actually briefly looked inside a few weeks previously at our first meeting when it was quite a way from being finished. Back then, we’d been impressed by how clean and tidy it was for a building site. The tradesmen seemed to be very respectful to the building and were busy going about their tasks. There was not a hint of rubbish, food wrappers or plastic bottles anywhere. A bit surreal to be honest!

When we arrived at the builders, we were greeted by K’s parents who welcomed us and talked to us about all sorts of things (none of which were connected to housebuilding!). They were really sweet and, much to our relief, forewent the stuffy, formal business Japanese which can get so tiresome in such situations. They greeted us as friends, not customers, and were delighted when we quickly adopted the same informality in return.

Before we start describing the house, it’s important to point out a peculiarity in terminology when dealing with buildings in Japan. What we would call the ground floor in the UK is called the first floor and, likewise the first floor in the UK is called the second floor in Japan. This can get a bit confusing to the uninitiated so I will endeavor to use either upstairs or downstairs to make things simpler!

The house comprised two stories and around 110sqm which was a little smaller than we were hoping to build. What was nice was that they had also decided to put the living spaces upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs (although oddly with the bathroom upstairs). This is rather uncommon in Japan but to us it seemed to make perfect sense. The lower floor would be cooler in the hot Japanese summers and we would get the benefits of more light in the evenings upstairs when we would actually be at home. Equally, the relative darkness downstairs would present no problem since that area would be mostly for sleeping.

We put on slippers and white gloves and were given a tour of the downstairs floor and what each room would be used for. At this stage, the house was about 99% finished and some snagging and final touches were being applied as we looked around. The couple who would be living here had 3 young children and they had opted to leave the children’s sleeping area undivided for the time being. We liked this idea as it would afford the opportunity to live in the house for a while and make changes based on experience as the children grew older and needed their own spaces.

The quality of the finishing was exceptional throughout and the smell of wood everywhere just made it a wonderful place to be. Spaces, where possible, were simply designed so that they could be repurposed at a later stage. Again, we felt this flexibility would be really important as it’s unlikely we will get everything right first time.

Around the base of the house was a large outside wood deck which could be reached through French doors from two rooms. We’re both rather fond of the Japanese custom of a strong connection between the inside and the outside (we’d actually considered a Kyoto-style inner garden courtyard house for a while) and this seemed to facilitate that rather well. The deck itself would be large enough to accommodate a couple of chairs and a table, a pleasant place for a morning coffee certainly and nice to be able to go there directly from the bedroom or study.

Upstairs, there was an open plan living room and kitchen area with wood absolutely everywhere and nice high ceilings. A really exciting and unique element was the large raised balcony off the main living room with innovative (custom-made) sliding doors which completely disappeared into the wall cavity when opened.

This outside balcony was unlike the small balconies often found in Japanese apartments like the one we currently live in. These typical balconies are barely big enough to hang clothes out on (their principle purpose) and certainly not suitable for a table and chairs. This balcony, however, must have measured 16sqm, easily enough for 6 people to sit outside and enjoy an al fresco dinner.

Because of the disappearing doors and the same-level flooring, when opened, this balcony created a seamless extension to the upstairs living space. The limitations of building with wood mean that building large open plan spaces can be difficult so this was doubly effective in that respect. Again, when open, it allowed for easy transition between inside and outside, which we liked. Of course that transition goes for mosquitos as well as humans which was a problem we’d have to figure out a way to solve.

I could go on about the other features of this house that we loved (the craftsmanship, the loft, kitchen, amount of light etc.) but that’s not really the point of this blog post. While we looked around the house, we continued to be supported and looked after by the staff of the building company but it also gave us a chance to observe how they interacted with the new owners and, especially, with their children! The overarching impression that we had was one of teamwork with both sides going through the process together. Not a faceless, soulless corporation with stuffy or sleazy salesmen desperate to make a sale but a collaboration between two parties with shared interests.

From these two extended meetings, impressions were very good indeed. Finally, at the end of the house visit, Yuko and I looked at each other and sort of asked each other “What do we do now?” We each said “I’m happy” a few times and then just decided that this was the company we were going to use. Nothing wrong with the architect or the other companies in the shortlist but we had a great feeling and decided to trust our instincts. Great house. Great people. Speak English. Easy to talk to. Reasonable. Rational. Let’s do it. You’re our builder.

I hope we’re right!