Kengo Yoshida is a Japanese musician, instrumentalist, plastic artist, and dome architecture researcher. Also known as the developer and godfather of "Pachika". After working on "Gourd Market", he is now living off the grid in a forest of Aso in Japan with his partner Nobu.
Living here means...
We bought the land with cash, so it costs zero.
The house we live in is a tent I made myself.
There is no water, electricity, gas, or other infrastructure in the forest
so it's off-grid.
[Water] We have a stream from the water source, so all the water needs are supplied by that.
[Electricity] is provided by a stand-alone solar panel system.
[Gas] We have no shortage of firewood because we live in a forest.
[Daily necessities] For example... I don't buy soap, tissue, wraps, aluminum foil, etc. Then you'll come up with questions like how about this, or that❓ But I probably don't buy it.
Basically, I don't want to increase the amount of garbage.
I store the year's trash in the storage shed.
And... I take it to the clean center once a year.
Most of the garbage for the year is vinyl, and the processing fee is about 350 yen (like $3).
That's about a mini truckload.
For example... I've never used tissues or anything else in the bathroom.
I wash my buttocks by hand using a 500ml plastic bottle of water
And wipe with a hand towel.
In fact, once you get used to this, you can't say your butt is clean if you wipe it with a tissue.
I can wash my hand clean too. No problem if I lick it😋
When I go shopping... and think, "Ah?? should I buy this?"
after that I think,"No... I'm gonna make this."
For example brooms, dust trimmers, and so on. Also Slippers.
[Food cost] I go to supermarket once in a while (less than once a week, but a few times a month).
I eat wild vegetables and grass much more than most people.
Grass tempura is especially delicious this time of year😋
There are plenty of edible grasses.
Bamboo shoots, bracken, royal ferns, etc. I remove astringent taste and pickled in salt or oil.
I make enough for a year.
Smoked bamboo shoots in oil are so delicious😋 If you only have it it's enough for a meal.
I'm so into preserving food, but if I start talking about fish or meat, that'll be all I say this time, so I'll leave it to your imagination.
Next... [Other expenses] My mobile bill is a little over 6,000 yen for the phone and iPad.
The rest is probably about 140,000 yen for the car inspection and insurance for two cars.
Divided by two years, that's 10,000 yen per month.
We rarely go out, so the gasoline bill will never be more than 10,000 yen per month.
The total monthly cost so far is... the cost of car maintenance, communication, gasoline, and what else❓...
If you have read this far, you probably understand it's not common.
"I and Nobu living on 70,000 yen(like $550) a month" is just comfortablly accomplished actually.
But what if I get sick❓
Or what if I get injured❓ That’s a whole other story.
I want you to understand that this(a life without money) is not what we are aiming for.
It's totally different from life in town.
It's hard to imagine, isn't it?
Imagining what life was like in the old days, what life was like for the Indians, what life was like in the Amazon backcountry❓ and so on,
I've started my own life.
When it rains, the stream becomes a muddy river.
I can't tell you how many times my pipes have been washed away...
Typhoons have blown away our tents and destroyed our huts.
Each time, we have to think of countermeasures and take action.
Real work is essential.
Here's what's different from town life! This is what makes it different.
You always have to work, and money doesn't help.
You just have to do it yourself.
In the heavy rain... In the middle of the night, even when it's freezing cold and gets your hands numb, something you have to do always occurs.
At that time, All I can do is to think that somewhere on earth, something much more serious is ocurring.
And I do work with that in mind.
If I don't do it, it will be even worse.
Living in the forest like that...
changes my skills... Spirit... Personality...
before I knew... Probably.
I'll be a forest man.
And from the forest, I'll be the voice of the forest
And will have a synergistic effect with the people in town.
