Blog

A record of repairing and replacing worn wood deck boards using cafe boards.

Five straight hours of cleaning, including wet-mopping the floors and scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom! A work report from Hayama's cool climate.

Buying fresh seafood at great prices at the morning market at Misaki Port. Tips for visiting early and what to look out for.

Our first visit in about a month: checking for millipedes and cleaning the exterior of the property.

Cantina serves authentic Italian cuisine on a terrace overlooking Zushi Beach. Enjoy dishes made with fresh ingredients and the sunset in a wonderfully atmospheric space.

The trails around the Miura Alps are fairly challenging, with rough sections and few signposts in places. Here is an easy-to-read map.

March 30, 2024. With a high of 20°C and some rain, conditions would normally bring out the millipedes, but there have been hardly any. I found one live millipede indoors and one live one outside. I spent half the day cutting down trees.

Not a single millipede in sight again today. We cut down lots of trees to improve airflow. It's a slope, so cutting is slow! And the batteries run out fast, so we can't get much work time! Lunch was beef tongue! Eaten with bread and red leaf lettuce from Hayama Station

Cleaned under the floor. It's cramped and dusty, so I wasn't motivated, but with so many dead millipedes down there I grabbed a handheld vacuum, put on eye protection and a dust mask, and got to work. The dust bin fills up quickly, so all the back-and-forth was exhausting! I also cut down a lot of trees. The battery

We found no millipedes indoors! Partly because it is winter. Still, a year ago they were all around the house and getting inside, so things have improved considerably compared with a year ago. The steady work of cutting down trees to eliminate shade and improve airflow may have been effective.

There is a gap between the built-in stove and the kitchen countertop, and small bits of debris keep falling into it. Just as I did earlier with the gap between the toilet and the floor, I'm going to seal it with silicone sealant. First, I apply masking tape. How much clear

Japan's Civil Code has changed, so you no longer have to go to court over branches overhanging your property line. The article below explains it in detail. If the owner won't cut them, it looks like we can cut them ourselves and bill the owner, so I plan to use this as leverage in negotiations.

This much in just one week. People say the millipedes in Hayama have calmed down, but they haven't calmed down at all! (Furious) Such a great location, yet it's unlivable...

When I visited about two weeks ago there were hardly any intruders, but this time it feels like the numbers are up again. Lots of them in the living room. Some in the bathroom too, even though I cleaned the whole interior spotless last time (grr). There were many in the entrance hall; this is what I vacuumed up from everywhere except the entrance. This

It's raining. Last year, on days like this, huge numbers of them clung to the concrete, but this year I hardly see any. About 10 dead ones indoors, none alive. And for some reason a cluster of millipedes is sitting in a spot they shouldn't be able to reach because it's covered with aluminum tape. A mystery.

Over the past two months the number of millipedes has dropped considerably, with only about 20 getting into the house. There also seem to be fewer around the house. They haven't disappeared entirely; a few still cluster in damp spots. I thought they might increase as early autumn brought slightly cooler weather, but they haven't.

Consulting the Hayama Town Office Environment Division again about millipede damage. A record of our follow-up consultation one year after the first.

Checking on the millipedes during my first visit in half a month. Cutting down the trees has increased the hours of sunlight, and the number of millipedes near the entrance seems to be decreasing.

As usual, there are millipedes at the entrance. I wonder how they're getting over the aluminum tape. They haven't climbed over the aluminum tape, so it's a mystery how they got here. Huge numbers have also gotten into the house. This is the living room after just half a month. In this state you

An on-site survey of a millipede outbreak and the countermeasures, plus a report on vegetation encroaching from the neighboring land.

Photos taken by a carpenter who came to do some work. The image quality is poor so it's hard to tell, but a huge number of live millipedes have appeared around the house.

Until now I'd been using an electric chainsaw to cut trees and branches encroaching on the property, but on sloped land, managing the power cord was a hassle. This time I bought a Makita cordless chainsaw and took on the cutting. It runs on two 18V battery packs for 36V, so it's heavy. The blade cuts

They're getting in even though I applied aluminum tape. Maybe there are fewer of them. They've piled up again in the spot where there are always lots of dead ones. It seems the millipedes aren't going away this year either. There are many inside the rooms too. I can't figure out how they're getting in... despite sealing the gap where a dead centipede was

My first visit in about a month. I put aluminum tape around the entrance tiles so millipedes couldn't climb up, so let's check the results. Unfortunately, the millipedes are still getting in. Whether they are climbing over the aluminum tape or climbing up somewhere else and reaching the entrance

The original mixer faucet started leaking, so I tried replacing it myself.

A record of trees encroaching from the neighboring land, the resulting loss of sunlight, and our countermeasures against the millipedes that come with it.

An inspection through the underfloor access hatch revealed many dead millipedes. Investigating how they get in and considering countermeasures.

Spreading slaked lime to counter a mass outbreak of millipedes. Encroachment from the neighboring land also continues.

Millipede activity at our first visit of 2023. They are already active even though it is still cold.

Dead millipedes are turning up even before the outbreak season, and a record of the countermeasures we took.

We went for a light trek starting from the Mount Abekura trailhead, just a 3-minute walk from home.

The crescent lock on the outer window was stiff and looked worn, so I'm replacing it with a new one.

The bathroom ventilation fan had become noisy, so we decided to replace it.

I built a dedicated stand for storing a large bottle of wood glue upside down.

One of my favorite spots lately.

A lunch review of Restaurant La Marée de Chaya, a highly rated restaurant in the Hayama area on Tabelog.

When we switched the circulator on, it just made a buzzing noise and wouldn't spin at all, so we replaced it.

Introducing a single-slab wooden desk on display at Hayama Kagu.

A sandwich shop rated 3.5 on Tabelog, in a convenient location with easy parking

A visit to the morning market held every Sunday at Hayama Marina.

Hayama Roadside Station

We visited Hayama Station, which opened on September 1. It's a new commercial facility that brings together local restaurants and food shops.

A record of our first property visit in two weeks and the millipede countermeasures we carried out.

A trekking course along the hills surrounding Kamakura. The highest point is only about 180 m, so even beginners can enjoy it.

We built a floodlight so we can work outdoors even at night.

When a toilet is installed in the usual way, there is a gap between the toilet bowl and the floor where dirt easily collects.

Faint black lines have started to appear in the gaps between the wallpaper.

Sure enough, there's a massive outbreak again this year.... Millipedes seem to be fickle, so I was hoping they'd migrate somewhere else en masse, but no such luck.

First, the design. We measure the room. Over a meal at Saizeriya, we roughly plan the dimensions. Since we'll be cutting large boards with a circular saw, we make a guide for the saw. Here is the area around the bath before. There's a lot of dead space. We couldn't find screws with black heads

Right now there are millipede carcasses here and there. It isn't even millipede season yet, and with this many already appearing, I have a feeling there will be a lot again this year. Gathering the millipede carcasses found in the Japanese-style room, gathering those found in the LDK, vacuuming up all the carcasses...

Fallen leaves are currently scattered everywhere. Left alone, these leaves become food for millipedes. Lots of leaves have also gotten under the wood deck. The parking area is covered in leaves too. The trees and branches we cut down have dried out and withered. When millipedes broke out last autumn

A record of encroachment from the woods to the south and our millipede countermeasures.

We installed dimmable downlights ourselves. Indoor lighting can now be adjusted to match the brightness outside, creating a more comfortable space.

While Hayama Kogyo was cleaning our septic tank, they told us "there's a hole in the septic tank" and that we should deal with it as soon as possible orz

The intercom is exposed to the elements, so we're putting a cover on it.

Before: an Aiphone KD-1M was installed. It worked fine, but modern intercoms have far more features, so we replaced it. After: without the cover, with the cover, a much clearer LCD, recording of visitors, and lots of settings. Pana

Here is the product we installed.

While installing a Karaie, we found cracks in the exterior wall and deteriorated caulking, so we repaired them ourselves as a DIY project.

A record of a meal cooked on our home wood deck. We enjoyed cooking outdoors.

A night running course from Hayama to Zushi Marina. A scenic, safe route with plenty of variety.

It was only held on by two wood screws! Very easy.

- Because the vacation home sits in the shadow of a mountain, humidity runs high in summer, so we are installing a dehumidifier that can run 24 hours a day.

Our visit to the 2018 NIGHT WAVE event. The sea was calm, so the reflections of the black lights couldn't be seen.

Trail running from the Morito Forest Road to Mount Nyuto. A great location, with the forest road entrance just a two-minute walk from the property.

We repaired a wood deck that had deteriorated with age. We used preservative-treated lumber, but the result didn't come out with a uniform look.

We went to see NIGHT WAVE, a dreamlike light art event at Zushi Beach.

We enjoyed all-you-can-eat fresh-baked bread at Bredor in Hayama.

Yuuki Shokudo at Kotsubo Fishing Port. A popular spot serving fresh, generous sashimi at reasonable prices.

The main restaurant of Marlowe, famous for its Hayama pudding. A highly rated café in the Yokosuka area.