After working towards this for 6 months: our 'minpaku' rental license has been upgraded to a full 'ryokan' hotel license. Time for a celebration :)
6 か月間の努力の末、私たちの「民泊」賃貸ライセンスが完全な「旅館」ホテルライセンスにアップグレードされました。お祝いの時間です :)
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#japan #日本 #shikoku #四国 #ehime #愛媛 #imabari #今治 #omishima #大三島 #shimanami #shimanamikaido #しまなみ街道 #immigrant #foreigner #akiya #startupvisa #businessmanager #naturalfarming #renovation #restoration #airbnbsuperhost #showa #vintage #retro #honeybee #honey #savethebees
Bosco is an "Ōmishima Street Dog". After generations breeding on our tiny Japanese island, these dogs are a mix of Shikoku, Shiba, and hunting or domestic dogs. Every day, his former pack family howls at the songs that are broadcast on the village loudspeakers. Young Bosco is starting to develop his howl 😂
ボスコは「大三島のストリートドッグ」です。 私たちの小さな日本の島で何世代にもわたって繁殖した後、これらの犬は四国犬、柴犬、狩猟犬または飼い犬のミックスです。 彼の元群れの家族は毎日、村の拡声器から流れる歌を聞いて吠えています。若いボスコは遠吠えを始めています😂
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#japan #日本 #shikoku #四国 #ehime #愛媛 #imabari #今治 #omishima #大三島 #shimanami #shimanamikaido #しまなみ街道 #immigrant #expat #expatlife #akiya #abandoned #inaka #renovation #startup #visa #foreigner #norainu #shikokuinu #shibainu #adoptdontshop #rescue #inaka #japan #homestead
Honeybee Apiary (#2) has a wild boar fence!
ミツバチ養蜂場(#2)にはイノシシ柵が設置されています！
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#japan #日本 #shikoku #四国 #ehime #愛媛 #imabari #今治 #omishima #大三島 #shimanami #shimanamikaido #しまなみ街道 #immigrant #expat #expatlife #akiya #abandoned #inaka #renovation #startup #visa #foreigner #inoshishi #inaka #japan #homestead
Honeybee Apiary (#2) is in progress! Let's bring this abandoned land back to life.
ミツバチ養蜂場(#2)が進行中です！ この放棄された土地を生き返らせましょう。
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#japan #日本 #shikoku #四国 #ehime #愛媛 #imabari #今治 #omishima #大三島 #shimanami #shimanamikaido #しまなみ街道 #immigrant #expat #expatlife #akiya #abandoned #inaka #renovation #startup #visa #foreigner
Finally tackling some deep cleaning at our second 'akiya' house, abandoned 40 years. It's not easy to stay motivated in the chilly weather, and we also need to be prepping farmland!
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Japan has an estimated 10-12 million akiya (abandoned homes), and we've purchased * two * of them! The akiya we've just finished renovating into Benton Guesthouse was purchased for ¥1 Million ($7500 USD) and abandoned for 10 years. We also have a second nearby akiya, a former 'ryokan' inn abandoned for an estimated 40 years. This house came with two pieces of nearby farm and forest land, sitting unused longer than anyone can remember. I’m documenting everything. If you’re curious to see life behind-the-scenes, I’m sharing daily updates on our Benton Homestead social media “stories”.
How do we live in Japan as two foreigners? We received a 6-month Startup Business Visa in cooperation with Imabari city, which then earned us a 1-year Business Manager Visa, to essentially sponsor our own residency in Japan.
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* Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating.
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* You could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon.
* Of course, your well-wishes, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support!
DONATIONS:
Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton
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We've been working so hard since the day arrived in Japan, that we haven't had much time to relax or enjoy this beautiful place we now call home. Would you believe this cute little beach is only a 10-minute walk from our guesthouse? What a great view of beautiful Tatara Bridge and the Seto Sea. Bosco approved.
We're welcoming our first guests to Benton Guesthouse this afternoon. So I think we'll do a quick "live" tour on instagram to celebrate.
私たちは日本に到着したその日から一生懸命働いてきたので、今では故郷と呼ぶこの美しい場所をリラックスしたり楽しんだりする時間があまりありませんでした。 このかわいい小さなビーチが私たちのゲストハウスから徒歩わずか 10 分のところにあると信じられますか? 美しい多々良橋と瀬戸の海を望む素晴らしい眺めです。 ボスコは承認した。
今日の午後、ベントン ゲストハウスに最初のゲストをお迎えします。 そこで、それを記念してインスタグラムで簡単な「ライブ」ツアーをやろうと思います。
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Benton Homestead YouTube:
youtube.com/@bentonhomestead
ゲストハウス ベントン
Benton Guesthouse AirBnB:
airbnb.com/h/BentonGuesthouse
Benton Guesthouse website:
bentonhomestead.com/guesthouse
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#japan #日本 #shikoku #四国 #ehime #愛媛 #imabari #今治 #omishima #大三島 #shimanami #shimanamikaido #しまなみ街道 #immigrant #expat #expatlife #akiya #abandoned #inaka #renovation #startup #visa #foreigner #airbnbsuperhost #vacationrental #guesthouse #bentonguesthouse
In this installment of cool chicken-like birds, we have the Guineafowl! This small flock was a pleasant surprise to see at the local botanical gardens; three spotted and one lavender. I always thought they would be skittish birds, because they're less domesticated, and have a reputation of leaving their coop to never return. But they were very calm and chatty!
I have to admit: Before we made the difficult decision to leave our homestead, I had an order placed with McMurray Hatchery for two new breeds of baby chicks. They were scheduled to arrive in the fall. I'd read about Guineas for years, of course because of their appetite for eating ticks. Some people have had success getting more domesticated Guineas, when raised alongside chicks, claiming they pick up some chicken personality traits. I'd been going back and forth for a long time, wanting to add a big batch of Guinea chicks to the order. My plan was to raise them, then let them live free in the vast empty lots of the Lower Ninth Ward, to eat all the ticks! LOL. The only reason I decided against it was because they're known for being noisy, and I didn't want to upset anyone. Even though there are dozens of chicken flocks in the area, so the roosters have crow battles every morning, haha, maybe nobody would've noticed. Then sadly, we had to cancel the order anyways, when we left the country. But someday I will have my own small army of tick-eating Guineafowl! 😂
In this installment of cool chicken-like birds, we have the Guineafowl! This small flock was a pleasant surprise to see at the local botanical gardens; three spotted and one lavender. I always thought they would be skittish birds, because they're less domesticated, and have a reputation of leaving their coop to never return. But they were very calm and chatty!
I have to admit: Before we made the difficult decision to leave our homestead, I had an order placed with McMurray Hatchery for two new breeds of baby chicks. They were scheduled to arrive in the fall. I'd read about Guineas for years, of course because of their appetite for eating ticks. Some people have had success getting more domesticated Guineas, when raised alongside chicks, claiming they pick up some chicken personality traits. I'd been going back and forth for a long time, wanting to add a big batch of Guinea chicks to the order. My plan was to raise them, then let them live free in the vast empty lots of the Lower Ninth Ward, to eat all the ticks! LOL. The only reason I decided against it was because they're known for being noisy, and I didn't want to upset anyone. Even though there are dozens of chicken flocks in the area, so the roosters have crow battles every morning, haha, maybe nobody would've noticed. Then sadly, we had to cancel the order anyways, when we left the country. But someday I will have my own small army of tick-eating Guineafowl! 😂
Life has been very busy with all the logistics of selling our homestead, preparing for the big move, obtaining visas, foreign car insurance, and all the other loose ends that need to be tied up before leaving the country. We've been making as much time as we can for all the real life important things, which includes lots of "goodbye for now" visits with friends.
Today, we made time for one last visit with the flock. @walkingbetweenmountains has been so kind during the transition. She's kept me updated with photos and videos of all the ladies as they settle into their new life with her family. I can honestly say they have a wonderful setup; their coop is very well designed, and the grazing area is picturesque! The ladies are beyond happy. It was obvious they remembered us, but I didn't sense any sort of sadness.
Here's a short clip of Evan feeding them some sunflower seeds, while everyone's favorite loudmouth (Patsy) makes herself known 😂
One of my favorite things I've learned on our homestead journey is that chickens and bees cohabitate so well together! Chickens literally eat anything that moves, or doesn't move, basically anything. But they seem to understand the bees are friends. The bees are so docile, I often spend time sitting right next to the hive entrance.
I originally wanted to put the hive in the chicken yard to protect it from our @lowerninthwardairbnb guest's curious doggies. But as a bonus, having the two together lets me spend more time observing all their interesting behaviors 🐔🐝✨
Moments like this are hard to catch, because they just happen so quickly. I present to you: Patsy (the loud mouth) trying to eat a giant bug in peace. She does a great couple of spin moves to keep it away from Bonk and Julieta, who are trying to steal the snack for themselves. Sound on for her loud shrieks of annoyance. Impressively, she was running and shrieking with her beak full.
Don't worry, she did successfully eat the giant bug 😂
I never would've thought chickens would be so entertaining. Maybe it's just me. I've had the great pleasure of watching their little personalities develop since they were 1-day old fluffy peeps, and Patsy is by far the loudest chicken I've even known 📢
Well folks, sometimes you get a bad batch. Our latest batch of kosher dills did not meet our quality standards; they were a little soggy. But they made a feast for our pickle-loving hens! Your loss is their gain. Red, Green, Gerta, Rhododendron, Patricia, and Yolanda are quite pleased 🙃 Sound on to hear six hens nomming pickles.
