The number of empty houses has been increasing due to the aging society and deterioration in recent years. In fact, more and more people let go of their beloved houses in which they have lived since childhood.
Nevertheless, empty houses can be newly reborn depending on how they are utilized, and can not only be used effectively but can also contribute to solving local and social issues.
So, in this article, we introduce Mr. and Mrs. Nishio, who have the house they have lived in Sakai reborn as a sharehouse.
Mr. and Mrs. Nishio have been using the house they have taken over from their grandparents and parents as a working space, but they thought of another way to utilize empty rooms. So, now they have been managing a sharehouse built by themselves while retaining the retro elements of an 80-year-old house.
The sharehouse integrates designs and plans only possible by the two who run a first-class architect office. We asked them about their commitment, what they hope to achieve through sharehouse management, and what made them decide to start a sharehouse in the first place.
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Mr. and Mrs. Nishio at Sharehouse Hidamari Otori & Hagoromo Kakinoki Terrace
– Please introduce yourself first.
: I’m Masahiro Nishio. I run a first-class architect office calledAtelier Givens in Sakai, Osaka, and manage and design various buildings such as apartments and public buildings. Especially, I like traditional folk houses and old buildings, which I refurbish occasionally.
My work is mainly in Osaka, but I can also work even if it’s far, like Kyoto, in the Kansai region.
: I’m Tomono Nishio. I run a first-class architect office together with my husband. I especially enjoy designing houses since I graduated from a university with a degree in housing and architecture.
Initially, we ran the office as a couple, but recently our youngest son has been working with us. We built this house together, and it would be a long story if I let my son talk about it (lol). More than half of the work was done by ourselves.
The fascinating points of carefully designed Sharehouse Hidamari Otori & Hagoromo Kakinoki Terrace
– So, you said you did it all by yourself. Please tell us the parts you particularly committed to when you built the sharehouse.
: It’s the courtyard and retro atmosphere. First, I will organize the courtyard little by little, but it’s connected to rooms. Residents can always feel nature.
: In terms of a retro atmosphere, we utilized classic glass fittings. It would be too good to waste them, so we decided not to buy new ones but to make use of the old materials and images as much as possible.
But we also thought it wouldn’t be interesting enough, so we added some extra designs and created a relaxing atmosphere.
: For example, the fittings are used in the washroom. We hope you feel like visiting your grandparents’ house from the retro atmosphere in the house.
: The other thing is to prepare for cold and earthquakes. Old houses are not only cold but also weak against earthquakes. We were concerned, so we first reinforced the earthquake resistance.
For cold, we installed underfloor heating in addition to the air conditioner.
We didn’t want to show the air conditioner for the sake of interior design and atmosphere, but we put the air conditioner under the floor to raise the warmth. The warm air is then brought down with a fan so that the room’s entire floor is heated.
Warm air comes into the rooms because each room has air outlets. But it is still not warm enough, so we also have air conditioners in each room. So, even though it is an old house, it should be pretty warm.
Other reinforcements include adding aluminum sashes to the old fittings, double-paned windows, and others to hide weak points of the old house.
– It was possible because of you two.
: There are things you have to know about old buildings to do so. When you walk into a room, it doesn’t look like it has air conditioning, but we do it under cover (lol). It is relatively warm.
Appealing points of Sakai, Otori. Not too urban, not too rural, but easy to live
– What is Sakai, where the sharehouse is located, like?
: Sakai City is a city designated by government ordinance, making it a large city than people would imagine.
It takes 15 minutes by train to the central areas of Osaka, such as Tennoji and Namba, and 30 minutes to Kansai International Airport. It’s a convenient place to go to Osaka and Kanto area by airplane.
Transportation is not a problem anyway since there are two stations near the sharehouse, JR Otori Station and Hagoromo Station on the Nankai Electric Railway.
While it’s quite accessible, the city itself has a moderately urban and moderately rural atmosphere. The cost of living is cheaper than the central area of Osaka, so the cost of living could be reduced.
– It’s nice and convenient.
: Also, I read in the newspaper the other day, it seems Sakai has been ranked higher among the places to raise children.
In fact, according to the survey by Nikkei xwoman, Sakai was ranked 9th among 165 municipalities in Japan in terms of ease of raising children for dual-income households. *1（※1）。
The number of childcare workers and school is large, so it seems safe and secure for families.
*1. Nikkei Woman ‘The Best 50 of Cities Easy to Raise Children for Dual-income Households in 2022’
https://woman.nikkei.com/atcl/column/22/112200009/122300002/
: The number of children in school has been decreasing everywhere due to the aging society. On the contrary, the number of students in Sakai is getting more and more.
Actually, the school from which I graduated has suddenly become a very large school with 1,200 students because a huge apartment was built. On a sports day, there used to be plenty of room on the field, but now we are forced to stand and watch (lol).
: But it’s not noisy, and the area around the sharehouse is very quiet because the roads are closed to cars. Even in winter, it hardly snows, making it a comfortable place to live in terms of both weather and lifestyle.
The reason we started running a sharehouse is to utilize a house that has been passed down from generation to generation.
– I see. Then, is there a particular reason why you started running a sharehouse by using your own house?
: This house was originally my parents’ house, built by my grandfather, and passed down to my father and mother, and to my generation. But, it has been used as our office after we moved to Osaka City 8 years ago.
However, this house is too big to utilize since it has the main house and two other buildings. A house gets damaged if no one lives in it, and demolishing it and making a new house is not the goal we aim for.
We came to know a sharehouse when we were looking for other ways to utilize the house.
We learned that young people share rooms, and wondered if our house could accommodate that style. Especially since we originally lived and worked here, we wanted to create a space where we could combine living and working.
We thought it would be interesting to share everything through living and working.
– I see. How old is the house?
: It has not yet reached 100 years, but is now about 80 years old. The space we use as our office is the oldest, 80 years old, and the living room is about 70 years old.
The area around the sharehouse has a few houses with large premises and are at the 100 years old level though there are fewer and fewer of them these days.
– When I first came here, I was surprised because I had the impression that the house was like a manse house in a form I had never seen before.
: True. The buildings surround the courtyard so that privacy can be ensured, and we think it will be possible to enjoy a sharehouse-lifestyle that everyone can get together around the courtyard and have fun.
A sharehouse is where creative people get together
– This is your first time running a sharehouse. Have you ever lived in a sharehouse?
: Well, I used to share a house. I had lived in Taiwan, and a company I was working for at that time rented a house. The company rented a large LDK with about four rooms, and I lived there with other Japanese and Taiwanese staff members.
– How was living with others?
: It was fun since we knew each other. I was very busy and mainly went home to sleep, but we communicated and lived well together.
And I used to live in a shared apartment in Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo before moving to Taiwan. It was not a sharehouse, but an old building that had many small rooms from 5.45㎡ to 7.29㎡with a shared toilet, and I had to go to a sento (a public bath).
I lived there when I was young, partly because I had no money, but that was fun.
– I see. What kind of image did you have about sharehouses in Japan and the people living there?
: I once saw a sharehouse that was like a traditional Japanese house in Tokyo with about seven people living, and many of them were in their 40s. They were working hard and were like career-oriented people.
The concept of that sharehouse seemed to be for people of a certain age to live together and cooperate with each other. I thought, “Are there a lot of people in their 40s?” since that was the first time I saw a sharehouse.
: From the beginning, I imagined young people in their 20s or 30s, especially creative young people.
: You can work from anywhere nowadays. Particularly, since people in the creative field can work only with the internet and a laptop, I had an image of creative professionals gathering together to stimulate and engage each other in friendly competition.
Actually, the people who contacted us were all in their 20s and 30s when we started, just as we had imagined, and they were close to our children’s age, which made us happy.
: Most of the people who visit and move in are in their 20s and 30s, so I learned that that is the main age group.
– Did you have any concerns when it came to actually managing the sharehouse?
: I was most worried about whether or not people would actually live. It was good that we created the sharehouse, but it would be lonely if no one moved in… (lol).
: As I mentioned earlier, we were quite particular about building this sharehouse by ourselves, so if no one lives here after we built all our efforts…you know (lol). In that case, we thought that we ourselves would have to come back here again from Osaka City.
Thankfully, we already have only three more rooms (as of February 2023), and one person is coming to visit today. We are very happy.
Ideally, the sharehouse will increase interaction/communication between young people and the community
– I see. So, you said you are happy because young people in their 20s and 30s come to visit. Would you please tell us why?
: I originally thought that one of the things I wanted to achieve through the sharehouse was to increase the number of young people. The town around here is aging, so I thought it would be great if the number of people in their 20s and 30s would increase and the town would become more vibrant.
Many of our architectural colleagues are the same age as us, and since we don’t have a staff in our office, we don’t have much to do with people in their 20s and 30s. I myself turned 60 last year.
I often feel empowered just by talking to young people, and I felt it would be a new stimulus.
I also hope to create a connection with the local community.
A neighbor who used to live here for a short period of time was a tea master. The person asked us if she/he could you this house for tea classes, so it would be good to make a connection with the local community through the classes and such in the future.
I don’t think there are many people who go to learn about tea and flowers. If we do it at the sharehouse, they might think, “I might try it too.” It’s fun when older people and teachers can do it with young people.
: It would be nice if people who are interested could attend tea classes/ceremonies to increase their interaction with others instead of being in their homes or rooms all the time.
– Do people living in this area know each other well?
: It used to be, but it has changed due to the population aging.
For example, in the old days, even funerals were divided into four groups, and if a person in A group passed away, all members in A group came to help at a wake and a funeral. For better or worse, it is a village-bonded (closed-community) society.
: However, more than half of that habits/customs have faded away because everyone has passed away or moved somewhere. I think it’s a half-assed state.
The number of vacant houses increases as the population ages, but I believe that some towns would become obsolete if they are left as they are. For example, some rural areas have become marginalized communities.
I feel that the town will change if we can create a system that allows us to reassemble it once again. It would be interesting if we and our sharehouse could be a trigger to solve the problems of the aging population and the community.
– I think this sharehouse has good potential since it has a large courtyard, and the living room is a good place to spend time.
: However, I feel that we need to think carefully about whether or not everyone who moves in this sharehouse wants to interact with each other. In talking with residents, I found that there are many different things they want from the sharehouse, and many different ways they like to interact.
: A person who came to visit us before said, “It’s tough to party every day.,” and I said, “Yes, it’s exhausting to party every day.” (lol).
Of course, we do not party every day, but we feel it would be comfortable to have moderate interaction a few times a year in order to get to know each other, while respecting privacy and individual wishes.
– It’s a ‘loose connection’ in a good away. You mentioned earlier that the image of a sharehouse is “a gathering of creative people.” Could you tell us more detail?
: It would be interesting if we could have people working as a freelancer and people working remotely. Company employees can also work from home these days, so they can use this place as their workplace. It would be interesting to connect company employees with freelancers.
The nature of work and working styles are becoming more diverse, so having people with different styles in the sharehouse will give us an idea of the recent social situation. I’m really looking forward to making this sharehouse with diverse people.
: The people who live in the sharehouse now also have different occupations and work styles, which is exciting.
Of course, we should not be the only ones who get empowered, but we also work here from time to time, so we would be happy to cooperate in any way we can.
We want to make this sharehouse a place where people of diverse ages and work styles can live and interact comfortably.
– What do you value in managing a sharehouse?
: I want everyone to feel comfortable living here. In that sense, I am actually not very good at cleaning, but I try to keep things clean, like picking up dead leaves in the garden (lol).
Since everyone uses the rooms and common spaces cleanly, we rarely have to clean them. We would be happy if they can take care of each other like this way so that we all can live comfortably.
– Perhaps it is because you were so particular in building/creating this sharehouse that it attracts people who are considerate and respectful of others. When I manage a sharehouse, I somehow feel that people who fit each sharehouse/property tend to get together.
: There are no particular problems at present, but I would be happy if good people continue to move in. When I hear about the younger generation, I tend to think of a frivolous look with brown hair and piercings (lol), but many of them are solid and diligent.
And if we can communicate and talk with them well, they will follow the rules, which I feel is important in communal living.
In the future, single mothers are welcome, and foreigners are also welcome with the feeling of providing housing as support for Ukraine. We want people from all walks of life to come.
: I have lived in a different country and can speak Chinese (lol).
: I can’t, though (lol).
: As I have said many times, like Hidamari, we have the desire to create ‘a place where diverse people get together.’ So we would be very happy if residents use the sharehouse as a place for new encounters and interactions, such as meeting new people that leads to a new job.
: Actually, I wanted to open a café before the sharehouse. Since my daughter is a dietitian, I wanted to do it in the terrace (lol). I gave up on the idea because of Corona pandemic, but I would like to make it a place where everyone can gather together over tea, just like a café, for example, on a nice day, in the courtyard, maybe.
We want to make this sharehouse a place where people from all walks of life can gather and interact in such a way.
Sharehouse Hidamari Otori & Hagoromo Kakinoki Terrace will be a sharehouse with diversities where people from different generations can live comfortably
We interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Nishio, who run Sharehouse Hidamari Otori & Hagoromo Kakinoki Terrace.
The sharehouse was originally started to make effective use of a house that had been passed down from generation to generation. But when we spoke with them, they expressed their passionate desire to ‘interact with young people and learn about new ways of working and jobs’ and ‘be a trigger for solving local issues such as aging and depopulation.’
That said, they don’t force the residents to interact, but rather they respect the wishes and pace of the residents with careful consideration.
This may be because Mr. and Mrs. Nishio have lived in a foreign country such as Taiwan, adopting the culture of that country and absorbing new working styles as they went along while respecting others.
Their attention to detail was incorporated into the design of the sharehouse, creating a sharehouse that embodies the personalities of Mr. and Mrs. Nishio.
Sharehouse Hidamari Otori & Hagoromo Kakinoki Terrace is available now. Some rooms are occupied, so please get in touch with us if you are interested.
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