During my visit to Japan in July, I drove into the mountains of Gifu to stay at Yūki’s Airbnb. A former abandoned home (空き家 / Akiya) with almost 100 years of history. Yūki renovated and brought this house back to life as creative project, an opportunity to connect with his home town and as a response to the increasing number of vacant homes in Japan. In the next decade alone, it’s estimated that over 30% of houses in Japan will be Akiya due to an ageing population and with younger generations moving towards the major cities.

I knew I wanted to interview Yūki after meeting and connecting with him over our shared love of many things. The outdoors, architecture, design and Gifu. Gifu being where I spent a lot of my childhood at my grandparent’s house.

This video is what I hope to be the first of an ongoing project creating videos on architecture, interiors and design.