Report #7: Shinano
Axing beers on a mountaintop has never been so much fun.
A&I News
Chopin Beers
Matt is a pretty big fan of Chrome Industries bags, so much so that he even opted to receive their newsletter. A few months back, though, that newsletter pulled a weird branding stunt when it featured 2 images of a guy in the woods chopping up cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon with an axe while sporting a Chrome bag.
While Matt appreciates irreverence most highly, he also dislikes it being done to less than maximal effect, and this Chrome campaign felt… half-assed. As an experienced adventurer, gonzo photographer, and challenge accepter, he knew he could take Chrome’s concept to the next level with a little help from his friends.
Enter Ryan Gilchrist and Michael Holmes of Ten Colors. Pro videographers and photographers, they heard Matt’s cries for satisfaction, and answered in spectacular form. With a Canon C300, a Chrome Barrage Pro, and a variety 12-Pack of Suntory Beer, they scaled a fog-laden mountain somewhere in the middle of the Izu Peninsula and produced the above video.
Which, we think, is pretty cool.
More Domestic Media!
We’ve had pretty good luck so far with various media outlets picking up our story - you can see some of them here! - though the domestic side of things has been notably slower to notice. But not anymore!
On our 3rd outing with one of Japan’s Top 3 national broadcast TV networks, we had the opportunity to take them on a journey through both the sales and purchase side of akiya. First, we went over to our client’s property in Hachioji to showcase this well-preserved custom built Japanese-western Showa era home originally built by a local business magnate with plenty of charm, a tranquil side garden, traditional craftsmanship, and then some!
We also had a bit more cleaning work to do, so they managed to get us at our dirtiest and most serious. Ever seen a dude wearing a bowtie pressure wash a house? Well, viewers of one of Japan’s top morning shows are about to! We’ll keep you posted via social media once the airdate is confirmed.
From there we headed up to visit a client in Gunma who purchased a mountaintop/riverside/forest property with us. We got to show off the progress that they’re making, as well as the beautiful scenery of rural Takasaki city.
Inaugural JREPS Event: Smashing Success!
Matt’s been contributing on and off to the Japan Real Estate Professionals (JREPs) podcast for some time now (though, admittedly, is. conspicuously absent recently due to recurring schedule conflicts), which itself has been a blast, but a few months back the idea of hosting a speaking event came up and everyone jumped on board.
We took our time planning, and last weekend reaped what we sowed - a nearly sold-out hybrid event hosted at Shibaura House and live streamed via Zaiko (with a recording to be released at some point soon). Emil spoke about family homes in Tokyo, Blanka (ARK Reform) of the many renovation options, Ziv (NTI) on investment properties, Tracey (Tokyo Family Stays) on rental properties, and Matt (Akiya & Inaka) on (surprise) the many opportunities with Japan’s rural, vacant property.
As is always the case, the audience made the experience a truly special one, and the connections that were made and conversations that were had were astounding. Can’t wait to get the next one scheduled!
Those are some of the updates on our end, now for the fun part: exploring vacant property across rural Japan! In this issue for our paid subscribers, we’ve got a really great place up in Japan’s storied snow country, Nagano, for you to turn into your own winter wonderland.
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