鷲ヶ頭山山頂展望台 » しまなみ海道日帰りツアー » 愛媛県今治市大三島

鷲ヶ頭山山頂展望台 » しまなみ海道日帰りツアー » 愛媛県今治市大三島

Wow, another Shimanami Kaido day-trip, during ‘sakura’ cherry blossom season 🌸 Friends, hop in our little kei truck, and let’s drive to the summit of Mt. Washigato! Located on Ōmishima, part of the Shimanami Kaido, in the Seto Sea, this viewpoint is popular for hiking, driving, or riding your scooter. The top of the mountain offers a beautiful, although a little bit obstructed, view of the sea, mountains, and of course those lovely little pops of pink and white cherry blossoms, mixed in with the trees and bamboo forests below.

わあ、またもや「桜」の季節のしまなみ海道日帰り旅行です 🌸 みなさん、私たちの小さな軽トラックに飛び乗って、鷲ヶ頭山の頂上までドライブしましょう！ しまなみ海道の一部である瀬戸内の大三島に位置するこの展望台は、ハイキング、ドライブ、またはスクーターに乗るのに人気があります。 山頂からは、少し遮られてはいますが、海、山、そしてもちろん、下にある木々や竹林に混じって咲き誇るピンクと白の愛らしい小さな桜の美しい景色が楽しめます。

• • • • •
Subscribe » https://www.youtube.com/@bentonhomestead

Stay With Us » https://www.airbnb.com/h/bentonguesthouse

Shop Honey + Retro » https://bentonhomesteadjapan.myshopify.com/

Shop Vintage Records » https://www.discogs.com/seller/bentonhomestead/profile

Japan Real Estate Consulting » https://www.bentonhomestead.com/consulting

Photo Blogs » https://www.bentonhomestead.com

Support » https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead

• • • • •
Videos covering commonly asked questions:
• “Startup Visa New 2025 Changes!”: https://youtu.be/H551BPlGnKU
• “Startup Visa to Business Manager Visa Complete Process” https://youtu.be/Tl-iZNeo2aw
• “Abandoned House to AirBnB » Process, Expense, Return on Investment”: https://youtu.be/INy5CEbLFX8

Videos covering our second house (the former ryokan):
• “Abandoned Items in our 1940 ‘Ryokan’ Garage”: https://youtu.be/F4go-qPE8aw
• “Unboxing Belongings Abandoned for Decades”: https://youtu.be/nC-5msg2hMw
• “Unboxing Four Guest Rooms”: https://youtu.be/0GJ1B52n1Ag
• “Unboxing the Kitchen”: https://youtu.be/oAnY73Yfzro
• “We Bought Another Akiya, Abandoned for 40 Years”: https://youtu.be/f8xg-OMYfLs

Videos covering our first house (now Benton Guesthouse):
• “From Abandoned House to Guesthouse”: https://youtu.be/YvYvPkclL9M
• “Remodel Finishing Touches: Phase One”: https://youtu.be/q-gpwJ2qzfc
• “Responsible Akiya Cleanup”: https://youtu.be/-aVxac-GqCQ
• “Sorting Items Left Behind”: https://youtu.be/gHKfxCrbUYg
• “We’re Buying a House, Abandoned for 10 Years”: https://youtu.be/xzmw34DGebw

• • • • •
We are two foreigners living in Japan! We received a Startup Business Visa, which then earned us a Business Manager Visa. This essentially allows us to sponsor our own residency in Japan via our small business: Benton Homestead. We have an akiya-turned-guesthouse, small honeybee and natural farm, and consulting. It’s been challenging but nothing is impossible!

Japan has an estimated 10-12 million ‘akiya’ abandoned houses, and we’ve purchased two of them! The first house was purchased for ¥1 Million ($7,500 USD) and abandoned for 10 years, which we’ve now renovated into Benton Guesthouse. The second house was purchased for ¥2.8 Million ($18,000 USD) and abandoned for an estimated 40 years. This one was a former ‘ryokan’ inn, and came with two pieces of nearby farm and forest land, sitting unused longer than anyone can remember.

I previously had no interest in creating a YouTube page or even really sharing our story beyond our friends and new neighbors. But the whole time we’ve spent immigrating to Mexico, immigrating to Japan, navigating the visa process, purchasing real estate as foreigners, incorporating a business, and settling in to life as foreigners, I quickly realized the information I’ve been looking for is not readily available. So, I’m making the exact kind of content I wish I’d had when I began. I’m documenting everything in hopes of helping others on a similar path.

• • • • •

Music: Cherry Blossom – Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100382 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Heartwarming by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100207 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

#sakura #lifeinjapan #akiya #expat #cherryblossom #japan #businessvisa #shimanamikaido