What's Under Our Japanese House? 

"I'm not sure I'm gonna crawl all the way over there...ah, maybe I should since I'm down here" ...Said the first victim of every found footage indie horror movie ever.

I can't get over how pretty this house is.

Damn it. Even a Japanese crawlspace is spotless.

I'm thinking: He can't possibly fit in that tiny hole. Jaya: Slips in like melted butter through toast.

What if after you climb up you realize that your back in the 80s

See how clean the crawlspace and strongly build foundation the old house sits. It shows how Akiya homes survive this long compared to new houses. Akiya is unique each houses are different/custom made however be prepared for finding replacements that may be difficult to find or no longer avaliable/business. I love Akiya homes a lot of people find it scary/creepy it's all in their head.

Well, that is definitely the cleanest looking hole full of nope I've seen.

Respect the Spiders, these are eating termites and ants.

we lived in a house in northern Japan in the 80's and the tatami was suspended in a frame. There was no subfloor, so if you lifted the tatami all you saw was dirt a few feet below. And I wondered why the house felt damp..... Your home is beautifully and solidly built.

I live in a house that was built ~80 years ago, so I have to crawl around underneath it now and again for repairs. My tips: always wear the mask, bring a small backup light, wear a bit of rope as a belt (so as to not ruin your belts), bring a fly swatter for the spiders! haha, and don't be afraid to just lay there and rest when and where you need to (bad place to have a heart attack 😅), and put all of your tools in a sturdy bag that you can drag around (I made one in a few minutes out of an old pair of jeans with a cord cinch top). It looks nice under your house. Thanks for the video.

Man the wood doesn't even look rotten or anything. It looks quite fresh and of good condition - fascinating!

Australians are obliged to say "down under" at least once in a conversation- confirmed 2:15

Thanks for taking us under there, but... never again, k?

I was impressed about how clean, dry and well built everything is under the flooring.

Watching this video was like watching a horror movie. I was like “DONT GO DOWN THERE” 😱😱😱😱😱😨

A wooden frame supported on concrete posts. Very nice. Best type of foundation in my book, at least in terms of durability. Because the wood is kept dry it will be hard for insects to attack it. Your main enemy is damp and there's signs of good ventilation from the sides. The main thing to check periodically is to make sure those side vents are kept clear year-round. The only issue you'll have is eliminating drafts coming up from the ventilated crawl space although I imagine the tatami mats will help with that somewhat.

I have stayed in Japanese homes but I never imagined tatami were so thick.

Not sure what the law is in japan but when I need to go under my house, I usually pops some firecrackers first. That drives anything that was hiding out of there very quickly.

I can see the foundation of that house is strong and beautiful. You are so lucky to have that house... that house would be very happy .

Just attach a go pro to a remote control car next time and spare yourself the horror😉

I'm not sure how accessible Diatomaceous Earth is in Japan but you could sprinkle it around the support beams as an added layer of protection against termites.

I have to say Japanese people do take a lot of pride in Everything they do considering it was built in 1987 it is really well built and done ✅ thanks to the hard working people who take pride in building things well done in Japan 🇯🇵 Nice house 🏠 make sure you keep it up also It seems well Built....

Wow. The ‘basement’ was just as interesting as the ‘attic’ footage. Lots of engineering there. Keep up the videos. (I was having second thoughts too.... I hate snakes.)

Bruh that's how you get attacked by a Yokai. Also leaving the tatami like that? You are just asking for it to fall sealing you down there until the next unsuspecting owner gets the property for you to haunt.

Looked like a solid and well ventilated foundation. The frame looked like cypress so should be pest resistant.

The moment you said “actually I had a second thought about this” I was lol it looks so scary.

the boots on tatami made me squirm but totally understandable. I just loved the sound of the "semi" to add a sense of scary as you went thru that not gaijin sized hole in the floor. Awesome house by the way ! There is $100k worth of beautiful timber down there ! At least there were NO snakes !

When he pointed the camera down the hole I was like “Arietty? You there??”

I went to Japan in the 90s to teach English and I initially stayed with a friend in Chiba but found the city environment claustrophobic. So I hitched from there to Kobe and stayed in a youth hostel while I looked for work. I eventually ended up staying in a city nearby called Ashiya in a house owned by a a woman in her 80s named Terashima san. As well as me there was an American and a French guy with his Japanese girlfriend. There was no running hot water in the very old house and Terashima san would run a bath heated by gas twice a week that we would all share. I wasn't crazy about that so I would cycle up to the local bathhouse and luxuriate in natural spring water and hang out with the locals. It also had ice cold bathing pools and saunas and it was awesome. It took a while getting used to undressing in plain view of the wife of the owner of the establishment but she never really seemed terrible impressed, what can I say.

Expecting shaky cam that ends with a mole person dragging him away. Stayed for the end.

I was a telephone installer in Beverly Hills, CA in the early 80's. Sometimes I had to install new outlets and I had to crawl under the house to install the wiring. I had a heavy jumpsuit and gloves. I would put tape to seal the sleeves and ankles to prevent spiders from crawling inside. I wore a hard hat and safety goggles. That is an earthquake foundation under the house. Next time carry the insecticide with you to spray on the piers. I would encourage you to coat the perimeter with insecticide. Best wishes

7:50 - Hey! I recognize that technique. It's something Ask This Old House pointed out when doing a back porch. Cut notches into the posts going down for the cross members to rest on. This way, you don't get shearing forces on the the hardware holding the crossmembers to the posts. Languages may vary, but good building practices are universal.

Make sure you remove the risk of being trapped down there. I was really nervous watching this.

That was the worst claustrophobia I've even experienced and I wasn't even there

I used to be a voice and Data tech in Melbourne for over 10 years. That would rate as one of the cleanest under floor spaces I've ever seen. A testament to the great building techniques and pride in craftsmanship. The moment you put a proper light down there I laughed out loud, its that clean and tidy.

Beautiful house, can't wait to see how it looks after you're done renovating.

I have never seen a cleaner, dryer place under a house. The wood looked almost new to me! I am tickled you are fixing this house up.

Im expecting the grudge to come crawling out any minute

Hi!!! I’ve recently just stumbled upon your channel and everything is SO amazing😍 It breaks my heart so much that the passed home owner children did not want to inherit the home. The design is SO BEAUTFUL, the architect is so unique... you can see the love and ideas that went behind the home. Each video I watch of you and your family bringing the home back to life makes me think “wow, the pass home owner built this home under the assumption it was going to be inherited on through the generations”, I see that when I saw the video where the home owner names were on the walls of the foundation roof... like it just BREAKS MY HEART that someone parent hard work, was left forgotten by children who just didn’t want to be held back by ancient history... smh... I know you said it’s common their in Japan, but it’s just still as equally heartbreaking and hard to swallow... which is why I’m so glad you and your family has baught the home and is bringing new light to the forgotten place😭♥️🙏🏻 I hope you can find out some more history on this home of yours now, on why there was so much rice equipments yet no rice field in the property for the equipment to be used😅... unless there’s rice fields in the town then that explains some of the story, that the family were rice farmers.... you should try asking around the neighborhood to see if they know any stories😁 I mean, only if your curious as I am of the history on it😅 lol, KEEP UP THE INFORMATIVE VIDS👌🏼♥️

From the attic to the crawl space, you've got yourselves a really good house. May you grow in appreciation of it.

God, honestly, after the information about the snake and spider and all the other bugs... And after seeing that the foundation was not concrete... I could literally hear my heartbeat. I still wanna congratulate those saplings, growing in that dark claustrophobic place. Seeing them made me think that there is no such thing as impossible. And how could you fit into that tiny hole again?! It was a big surprise for me xD

It’s so clean down there. Usually in the USA, old houses have a lot of junk in crawl spaces for some reason

Your house is a work of art. The craftsmanship is amazing.

This house has amazing craftsmanship built into it for sure. Solid.

I'm 5' 3" and can crawl and bend pretty fast I hunt mushrooms and at times you have to get down pretty low to get through the thickets. I would help you but I don't live there. I'd crawl the whole length and record it for you. Need a small gal to do this.

for a 35 year old house that foundation is perfect. a little tip, wood on concrete can rot fairly quickly because of the moisture, but you dont seem to have any problems. those thin slats seperating the house from the foundation are meant to be replaced once they show signs of rot or damage. its simple and can be done yourself. a simple jack can do the trick, ive done it on 200 year old houses in my area, it isnt hard.just jack up the area, push out the slat with a stick and slide a new one in. lower the jack and move on to the next one. i dont think you need to do that right now though. all the wood in the main house looks great. the other buildings are prett good as well tbh. theres nothing there i would say needs demolishing. even the outbuildings are much better than a lot of the working farms here.

perfect foundations very clean, it is perfect !!

I can’t believe you were able to fit in such a small space. I was already feeling nervous for you but after you said you had second thoughts my anxiety rose with you. I am still in awe of the beautiful construction and condition of the house! It really shows that is was built by someone who specialized in shrines, just like you said in the attic video.

Oh, I were not aware tatami is so thick. Also you have really good floor, much better than in places I've been to

As someone still sorta young? But looking to retire in Japan... these videos you made that I just so happe. To stumble upon. Are the best! Haha

Very excited to see your next video! Love this!

Amazing. This is a very beautiful old house! The base is very clean. The foundation is cool.

oh man got real sad when you plucked up the plant living under :') must've been tough growing in a space that dark.

When you pulled up those three pieces of wood, and only had that small hole to crawl through, I had a visceral moment of fear. I'm not claustrophobic, but the thought of being stuck was a little scary lol

i followed your videos with good interest and curiosity. the subject and your technique made it like a great adventure for me with some sadness especially with those school notes. they reminded me of my old family house long time ago and quite far away. thanks.

The construction and workmanship looks impeccable. The home will be even better and as beautiful as possible.

This was like watching some terror movie knowing damn well sth could happen at any momemnt. Tense

The making of a Japanese horror movie.

Agree that that’s the cleanest crawl space I’ve seen. The last crawl space I’ve explored was the crawl space under our elementary “gabaldon” school building years ago, where there were “rumored” graves from the 40s. Playing hide in seek in these crawl spaces was easy when you’re younger. But now I’ve seen a lot of horror movies, I have more reservations going under.

This is an amazing vlog. The house's foundation look very sturdy and is actually very clean - saved for some spidy & bugs. In general, since the house is relatively "BIG" - in terms of floor area, the house foundation looks GREAT!!!

I never realized tatami mats were so thick!

Blair witch comes to mind once he goes under the house.

Loving your vids..and looking forward to sharing your journey..

The crawl space framing is as beautifully built as the attic!!

Well, what can I say, going down there by yourself perhaps that wasn't a very good idea, always have somebody at least to call for help. Next time you said you were bringing somebody with you, or do a LIVE streaming and we follow your steps! I have some experience working under the floor in tighter spaces than the one you showed, and it sucks man, there is no time for reaction if something happens down there, for example if you are afraid of spiders you can't back out fast enough, that kind of thing. The mask was definitively a great idea, the suit too. Anyways I should probably star recording my adventures at my 1925 house in Saint John, NB too. Cheers!

When all is well and done, leave a freaky scary mask on the ground there for the next owner. (Evil laughing).

Wow that crawl space is very well constructed. They have concrete foundation walls where all the support is needed. Ventilation looks good, air flow will keep that from rotting. Looks real professional.

I always bring a short broom with me when inspecting under a house. It helps to remove the cobwebs before moving forward. An easy way to spot termites is look for small piles of saw dust. They chew the wood and take it out to make space for their nest.

How the hell was the house not infested with termites?. If i was a dam termite and looked up towards this house i'd be drooling like a mofo.

I would be so afraid that I'd get trapped under that house in that tiny, dark, spider filled crawl space 😳 no one would ever find me.😱

Well done. Fascinating.

Respect and props for you going down there. I don't ever want to go into another crawl space as long as I live, even one as great looking as yours. I like the idea someone else mentioned, using an RC vehicle with a cam attached to make inspection easier. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

This is a beautiful house, its unfortunate that it wasn't managed over the years.

8:09 - All we need now is for him to say "No, I am your father!"

Honestly, what an amazing deal that house is! It's recent, very very well made, all top quality material and craftsmanship, the tatami are still good, the kawara looks still good.. wow! Congrats!

The only thing you might want to add is some black plastic visqueen to help keep moisture from coming up in to the house and you might want to think about insulting the floors at some to at least R-15, up maybe R -35. depending on your weather pattern it look really good and very clean for under a house. You want the soil under the to be hard and compacted it helps.

😂 i saw bamboo growing under your house. its really everywhere

- Well the person who did the inspection of your house could have really cut a bit bigger hole - I mean I was having second thoughts if you'd even be able to press yourself through that tiny hole. :o - I'm fine with spiders, insects and snakes - what I would hate are mice and rats - cause where is rice/grains there is bound to have some rodents as well usually. and rats and mice really spread a lot of diseases and their urine really stinks from ammonia. - And by the way guys: This is how Darth Vader would sound if he'd catch a cold - at 12:52 and 13:23 . :D

I could listen to him all day. Can’t wait to see the end result. I’m sure it will be incredible.

That is one beautiful house. Congrats!

The protective clothing is interesting, the last time I saw such an inspection done on an old house, the inspector (who was more than 60) wore only shorts. It was summer, and quite hot, and he came out looking like he had been in a mud wrestling match.

Alternite title: Under the house asmr

i really appreciate your videos-i like that you don’t edit so tight -like some people where they click to quickly through images that i cannot see/register what i am seeing. that said i would suggest you tighten it up just a little ( but if i had to choose between the timeline as is or the quick choppy style i prefer this, especially since your content is so unique. the foundation looks so much better than i feared: the concrete stems look good ! another thought i often have with many bloggers is that they don’t use voice over. why not -it would easier to understand- and you can think about what you want to say.

the house is amazing! i love it including it's spooky foundations

Guy: puts on hasmat and respirator Me: Lets cook.

I was thinking at 7 mins in..and that was the last anyone ever saw him again

A vapor barrier on the dirt will help lower the humidity under the house and small mesh screen on the vent holes to help keep out warm blooded pest. insulate the floor would help against winter drafts. Some of the post looked like there was some water in the crawl. It looks like pressure treated post were used but it was hard to tell. A previous post correctly stated that the key is keeping water out. Thanks for sharing your house with us. I look forward to seeing more.

Looks good. Very well built

Ahora entiendo de donde salen tantos cuentos de terror japoneses . En ese sitio se pueden esconder personas , cadaveres , monstruos etc. 😆

1:24 I'd be nervous about meeting Vsauce down there...

So interesting! Thanks! 🙂

Pretty impressed with the craftsmanship under there.

Imagine if someone close the opening while you were down there......

The gopro footage and sound are a little strange (not good) but man, under that house looks much cleaner and better than I expected. Maybe you can employ your children to go check it out next time ;) haha My parents would do that in USA

The foundation looks really good under there from what i can see. No rot, pooling water, or cracking in the concrete. You really found a gem over there.

I would make a time capsule of a few of the previous owners things such as the school book, family pics and put it down in the basement.

4:20 Neon Genesis Evangelion flashbacks Damn cicadas

SNAKES!? oh there would be no way that I would go down under. call the experts!

Having watched so many Before/After (a popular renovation TV show in Japan) I am honestly very impressed by the condition of the foundation, which is clearly build right in the first place.

Looking forward to seeing the renovations you do :)