Turning a crazy cheap country Japanese house into a home — Step 11: Dig for treasure【SoraHouse】

We unearth some unusual finds at our old property in the countryside.

Ever since we bought a cheap house in the Japanese countryside for US$9,100, we’ve been gradually making small improvements and clearing the land as we prepare for the main renovations.

After finding a mysterious tap that revealed we were the owners of mountain spring water, we were curious to find out what other surprises lay in store for us on the property. So our reporter Go Hatori and boss Yoshio once again enlisted the help of Imazu, our trusty worker from construction firm Hobien, to do what any curious new homeowner would do — dig up the earth around the property. 

▼ Imazu and his trusty digger get to work searching for buried treasure.

In just a matter of minutes, Imazu and the digger had unearthed our first finds of the day: a couple of old millstones.

These millstones must’ve been used by former residents to grind buckwheat to make noodles. They were still in good condition, so after a scrub, we’ll definitely be using these to make fresh soba.

Pleased with this great find, Imazu hopped on the digger again to explore a different part of the property.

Sensing something was beneath the ground in this particular area, Imazu dug deeper and deeper until he unearthed…

▼ …the keys of a piano?!

Well, this certainly was a mysterious find. Who once owned this piano? Or was it a keyboard? And why was it thrown away? At some stage, the SoraHouse must’ve been filled with the sound of music, floating out over the hills and nearby river, creating an idyllic countryside scene.

▼ After that, the finds came thick and fast, with Imazu retrieving…some sort of wrench…

▼ …a weight…

▼ …a scale…

▼ …a ceramic urn…

▼ …a heavy pot with a metal handle…

▼ …an old can of coffee…

▼ …and finally…

▼ …an animal skull.

Hoping this wasn’t the skull of the raccoon visitor we thought was a ghost, our three musketeers took this as a sign to down tools for the day and collect a few more chestnuts from the road before returning home.

Searching for treasure around the SoraHouse is always a fun experience that yields a lot of new discoveries for our city slickers. Stay tuned for the next adventure!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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