Benton Homestead » Re-planting Roots

🌱 Ōmishima, Japan '23 🇯🇵
Benton Guesthouse 🏡 Now Booking!
Honey Bees 🍯 Chickens 🐔 Pickles 🥒 
Mexico '21-23🇲🇽 NoLA '16-21⚜️ 

We are two foreigners living in Japan! We received a 6-month 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 and small natural farm. 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 40 years. This one was a former 'ryokan' inn.

Since we left the US and our 1/4-acre urban farm in 2021, we've been documenting our travels, house-sitting, Mexico and Japan immigration, and akiya renovation.