In 2021, my husband Evan and I sold our small urban farm in Louisiana and set out on a continent-spanning adventure that would change our lives. We spent five years on the outskirts of New Orleans, where we taught ourselves how to garden, keep honeybees and raise chickens, selling our honey and eggs. I ran my photography business, and Evan worked as a licensed massage therapist. We liked aspects of our life in the city, but over time, we realized how much we wanted a more rural, self-sufficient existence. We couldn’t afford to do something at the scale we wanted in the U.S., so we decided to dream big and look at other countries. DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to negotiating a higher salary Evan speaks Spanish and Japanese, which narrowed down our search. We spent the next 15 months traveling through Mexico as full-time house- and pet-sitters before ultimately deciding to plant our roots in the Japanese countryside, arriving at the beginning of 2023. Today, we run a small guesthouse and honeybee farm on Japan’s Ōmishima Island and own two formerly abandoned homes that we restored back to life. The move is the best decision we ever made.
Buying and renovating property in rural Japan
We emigrated to Japan on a Startup visa, which is meant to help foreigners set up businesses here. The home that is now Benton Guesthouse was built in 1953. It had been sitting abandoned for 10 years when we bought it in the spring of 2023. It is built in the traditional Japanese style, with massive wooden beams, interlocking joinery, tile roofs, sliding screen doors and tatami mat flooring.
Welcome to Benton Guesthouse. Photo: Dani Benton
We purchased the property for $9,292 — $7,500 for the house itself, $1,500 in transaction fees, a $212 one-time real estate acquisition tax and an $80 annual property tax. When we got the keys, it needed a lot of cleaning and restoration to make it inviting once again. We did much of the work ourselves, to help keep costs low. We also hired some expert local contractors.
Evan replacing the wood subfloor in the guesthouse. Photo: Dani Benton
We lived in the guesthouse throughout the renovations, and completed the work in under six months due to the time constraints of the Startup visa. We wanted to show that we had a viable business and host our first guests before our visa extension application at the five month mark.
The bathroom in the guesthouse, currently a shower only, is one of our phase two renovation projects. We plan to restore the original wood-fired cast iron bathtub, tile work, and wall restoration. Photo: Dani Benton
All told, the renovation, including the rental license and amenities cost $29,000. We pay about $40 for the internet, $15 for water, up to $120 for electricity and $10 for gas. We spend about $400/month on groceries, and $100 for our phone bill. We have a small truck that we bought for $2,000 and pay $300/year for car insurance.
The kitchen when we first bought the guesthouse. Photo: Dani Benton
We bought our second abandoned house, around the corner from the guesthouse, in September 2023, for $18,500. The property, which used to be an inn, includes two plots of unmaintained land. This home is now our primary residence, and we are in the process of renovating and rehabilitating that space as well.
This the exterior of our primary residence, and our rescue puppy Bosco, doing some neighborhood watch. Photo: Dani Benton
Take a look inside Benton Guesthouse
We opened our doors to travelers in November 2023 and since then we have maintained a near 5-star rating. To set ourselves apart, we offer a private full-house rental. To date, we have earned approximately $14,000 in revenue from Benton Guesthouse. Great care and effort went into decorating the house in Showa-era style, which lasted from 1926 to 1989. We wanted our guests to feel like they were walking into a Japanese grandmother’s house.
The paintings hanging in the ‘doma’ front room were painted by the former owner, when he was young. Photo: Dani Benton
To us, even the smallest details can make a space special. We sourced a Nintendo Famicom system from the 1980s, for example, for our entertainment room.
Our entertainment room, complete with the vintage television set and Nintendo system. Photo: Dani Benton
We have so many ideas for future renovations, including restoring the former wood-fired bathtub, adding a second bathroom and building an outdoor barbecue patio. We plan to plant a garden for the guests to enjoy and set up an educational hive on the outskirts of the property.
This photo of the kitchen is a great example of items found in the houses that we were able to restore and reuse. Everything in this photo was either found in the house, given to us, or purchased from local recycle shops. Photo: Dani Benton
Once these additional renovations are complete, we will be able to comfortably increase the number of guests we host from six to 10, which will boost our revenue. Over half of our bookings are cyclists groups, but there are some couples and solo travelers, too.
This is my favorite room in the house. I love the green sparkly walls, the big wooden windows and the ‘fusuma’ screen doors. Photo: Dani Benton
We also plan to turn the guesthouse’s detached garage into a retro-style roadside farm stand, where we will display and sell vintage items, including antiques, furniture, tools and cookware — many of which actually belonged to the previous owners of both properties.
Of all the tea sets we discovered in our primary residence, the former inn, this one is the most beautiful, in my opinion. Photo: Dani Benton
Growing our business and looking to the future
We started with 10 honeybee colonies, and by next spring, we will have 20. We plan to increase each year. Beekeeping in Japan has a bit of a learning curve, so we’re fortunate that a local beekeeper has taken us under his wing to help teach us about the different challenges and predators honeybees face in Japan.
Our main apiary. The unpainted boxes on the front of each hive are hand-made
Millennial US couple bought abandoned house in Japan: Look inside
