I try not to think about the fact that I am not to inherit this old house. Because I’m not the oldest male of my family. A lot of people think we are crazy spending so much money and time into this house when we are told constantly that it’s never going to be ours. But if we don’t, no one else will and it was a matter of time before the house collapsed.
So we stopped trying to pursade my parents it’s worth saving and that the rightful owner should fix it. It was wasting our precious time. We just had to save it. At least try our best. Doesn’t matter whose house it is anymore. We owe it to our ancestors to keep the house alive and pass it on to the next generation. I know our actions will be proven worthy some day, even if we might not be alive then.
It’s so sad that majority of Japanese don’t see much value in such traditional old houses. Local people would come around and tell us we should bulldose it and make a car park which is in high demand around this area. “What!? Bulldose this 250 years old house? Car park?” Cried my husband in disbelief. We think THEY are crazy!
I wonder if I would be the same if I never left Japan. I don’t know if I would have really appreciated the beauty of this country as I do now if I always lived here. I wonder if the true reason why I came to live away from my own country was to see Japan from outside and realise the importance of respecting our culture and appreciating what we have here. I do that through restoring this house. It just feels so right. No matter how many people think we are crazy. This is my avocation. This is my life project.
