Japanese Golf Clubs @ Inpakuto.com - All about Golf, JPOP and Japan

Having  been unable to walk much for the last month I have not posted any houses from the neighborhood here in while. We just love walking here in Kiminomori and usually walk at least an hour a day and sometimes even up to 4 hours!! Exploring the streets and houses and the forest and natural surroundings is more than we could have wished for. We still cannot get over how lucky we were to get one of the last houses here and how great this area turned out. Well here are a couple of more houses we like. The first one we dub "the hospital", as it is all white, modern and square and the second one we call "the embassy" as it has a secure and official look to it. These houses also back on to the golf course and are two of the very nice ones!

 

With the summer weather in full swing, my wife and I decided to make some changes to the garden and dress up my office window ledge. She added a three planters right outside my second floor window which does add some nice color. The neighbors across the street have thanked us for adding something nice to their view. (^_^)

In the back we removed a bunch of the generic "builder's" trees and added so far from second pic below to bottom, Kiwi, Biwa tree, Yuzu tree and a Mikan tree. I've got a 2 meter tall Momiji (Japanese Maple) coming that will round off the center of the backyard.  Sitting in the tatami room now and looking out on the garden is quite fun as is all the gardening work. Saku our dog sure loves it... I think.

 

 

Here's an awesome overhead shot of the Kiminomori Golf Community.  Near the top of the picture you can see the Kujukuri beaches and the shorline of eastern Japan which is around 13km away and where all the surfers hang out.  This picture is probably around 4 years old as towards the north of the course there is just dirt lands where phase 5 of the community now exists. Phase 5 is definitely the most affordable of all the houses in Kiminomori with prices starting at around 275k USD for a house. Of course all the best and most expensive houses back on to the course and many of those range from around 800k to 2.5 million or so!

 

One thing you notice when walking around Kiminomori here is that quite a few houses are using solar energy to power their houses. Solar Panels are attached to the roofs and they channel and store energy in solar cells that supply the electrical needs in the house. This has been around for a long time but is more evident with Japan more "Eco" concious than ever.  One thing I have found living in Japan is that my electricity bill is the highest of all utilities unlike Canada where the gas bill was always astronomical, especially in the winter. In Japan, the multitude of home gadgets and appliances, from the advanced heated toilets to the in floor heating all require electricity. Add the fact that I leave my computer setup on 24/7 and we have an electrical bill nearing $100 a month (gas is a mere $25.00 a month and water around $40.00).  The solar panels are interesting but a couple of  things need to be taken into consideration including initial investment and long term return. The initial investment is very large for an high end system and accoring to research here in Japan, would take 20 years for one to recoup the investment into solar panels. So long term return would depend on how long you stay in your house.  Typically in Japan, people don't move around much and a house is not looked at as much for an investment but rather an expenditure for long term living. So most will stay put in their house for many years and find it a worth while investment.

One of the reasons why there are many unique houses here in Kiminomori is because besides pre-built houses being sold, there are also plots of land being sold. Buyers buy a plot of land and build the house of their dreams. Lately I've seen more and more of these contemporary style houses popping up. Definitely very modern and hi-tech looking. I wish I could visit the insides. We love it here so much that my wife and I wish one day to get a piece of land and build our dream home too as one complaint with the pre-built Tokyu Home we live in is that the backyard is too small. Here's an example of one of the many cool contemporary designs here. This one backs on to the hole number 11 tee.

 

One very popular style house lately is the modern "Wa" style.  The meaning of Wa is considered to be the essence of Japanese tradition and culture so what these houses do is incorporate aspects of traditional Japanese with modern accents. This house backs on to Kiminomori Golf Course and is one of my favorites.  The front is very Wa with a Japanese garden and house lines with a traditional Japanese look.  It's one of the examples of the varying style of houses here in Kiminomori. Next door to it is a more North American white vinyl siding house. This is one of the reasons I love going for walks here, just to admire all the different houses.

 

 

With over 2650 houses now in Kiminomori, its amazing its still growing. Even though I will probably post pictures of the nicer houses here they only make up perhaps 350 of the houses here (the brown pieces of land on the map below all backing onto the course). The other 2300+ houses are for commoners like myself and look more like the picture above.  Mostly built by Tokyu Homes, these houses are much more modest and you get far less land. For those who are interested in joining me they are starting a new section of really big million dollar plus homes next to park 10 Akebono Koen and par 12 Wakaba Koen backing onto the fairway of hole number 5! (^_^)

 

So people have been asking about how Saku, our Shiba is doing in Japan. He's loving it here especially since there are so many other Shibas. He did great to survive the long flight from Canada and has settled right in. He also loves the walks in Kiminomori and has made friends with Taro, Lon, and Komaru, all other Shibas. At first we were worried because as is the Shiba's character he can be pretty territorial and to himself but it seems he likes other Shibas especially Taro-chan who I should take a picture of cause he's so good looking. Maybe its that Shiba food we are giving him but he sure is happy!

 

Tonight we had a good dinner. I should start posting up our food. We do love eating out in Japan as it is the greatest place in the world for dining out however we also love staying at home. Last night we had amazing Sukiyaki (I should have taken pics!). Today was a more simple dinner. Sanma fish grilled with grated daikon, grilled tofu stuffed with natto, negi miso soup with wakame, tuna salad  and peanut miso. Tasty!

 

I love houses and here in Japan the style of houses really vary. In Kiminomori there are all kinds of houses of all different styles, from European to Western to traditional Japanese. I'm going to take pictures of houses around the neighborhood whenever I go for a walk from now on so I can post them here for people to get an idea of the type of life here in Kiminomori Golf Community. The first house is one I walk past on the corner every day. My wife and I call this one the mini castle. I don't know who's house this is but its a beauty!

 

 

Well not exactly my neighbor but she lives in my community here at Kiminomori. As I mentioned before in my posts, famous people live in Kiminomori including pro golfers, forumla 1 racers, actors, pro wrestlers, there is even a rumor that Kimura Takuya from Smap has a house here. I always knew the pro golfer who lived here was Suzuki Toru but it never rang a bell that he was jpop idol Suzuki Airi's dad even though I knew from my jpop otaku days that her dad was a pro golfer. I finally realized it when some otaku blogs mentioned that she lives in Kiminomori. Its kinda cool. Now when we go for walks we will check out all the houses that back on to the course as the Suzuki's live in one of them. Besides being  a pro golfer and sponsored by Mizuno and playing on the Japanese Tour with over 7 million USD in career earnings, Suzuki Toru is also a spokesperson promoting Kiminomori as a great place to live for those who love golf. You can see his Kiminomori page here: http://www.kiminomori.com/suzuki/index.html

For those in golf who don't know Airi she is part of the Hello! Project group °C-ute and you can check her out in the Tokaikko Junjou video here: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=OAHFWo7SarU

One of the great things about living in Kiminomori is not just living on a golf course but how the whole community is planned out and its actual location. Kiminomori is located in Oamishirasato, a resort style town right in the middle of Chiba prefecture. Kiminomori is located on a mountain top about a 6 minute drive from Oami Station on the JR line. It is also located only 13km away from the Japan east coast and surfers paradise known as Kujukuri beach, the second longest beach in Japan. Oamishirasato has a population of just under 50,000 people and growing thanks to its commuter status as a popular living place for those who commute to Tokyo but want the resort style, country living.  While Oami (as most people call it) is small,  as I mentioned in a previous post, borders along two much larger towns, Togane and Mobara for convenience. 

One of the pleasures we have is taking a walk every day in Kiminomori as the community features numerous parks bordering along the golf course as well as lots of forests and nature. I frequently bring my camera with us on walks and take snapshots of the golf course from the various parks around the community. The first picture below is the park that faces our area of housing in Kiminomori called Mugiwara Koen (Park) and then various pictures I take of the course from different parks around the neighbourhood.

Surrounding the area in Kiminomori are no less than 10 public parks. Great areas created by the community here for kids to play and dogs to walk. Many of these parks side onto the Kiminomori golf course so I've been lucky enough to find several very good golf balls that have strayed over the fence to the park from errant golf shots. This morning while waking Saku I picked up a very nice Tourstage X-01 G4 four piece ball. Japanese golf balls are not cheap as many of you may know.  A case of 12 G4 cost around 75.00USD making this ball a $6+ ball. It's my best find yet among a few other cheaper brands.

Time to give an update about living in Japan. My wife and I are very happy and lucky. The timing for our move back in the summer was perfect as it was right before the Japanese Yen began to strengthen. If we had moved now we would have lost so much on the exchange that we would not have been able to buy our house.

Life in the suburbs has been great contrary to popular belief.  As much as I love Tokyo I realize I don't have to be there all the time. As a matter of a fact I've only been once (and it was to Akihabara) in the last four months. We can get everything around here as Oamishirasato is bound by Togane and Mobara, both with plenty of shopping. We can easily get to Chiba city from here as well either by car (it definitely helps having one outside of Tokyo!) or by Express bus which stops 2 minutes from our house and takes 30 minutes to get to Chiba Station.

Even though I live on a golf course and work from home, I haven't had the time to play golf as much as I would like to. It's been busy settling in to Japan and getting my daily routine in check. Our dog, Saku, a  4 year old Japanese Shiba Inu which you may have seen here and there on this blog, just made the 20 hour trip (transit time included) to re-join us in Japan. It's kind of a homecoming for him! So far he loves it except he is no longer the only Shiba in the neighborhood. There are at least 10!! So I've been working his routine into our schedule as well. The spring will probably be much better for golf, especially since all my neighbors are golfers.

In general living costs have been less than expected. The gas bill is considerably lower especially since the houses here are not centrally heated. Electricity and water are the main costs, and I figure my electrical bill will rocket now that all my computer gear has arrived and I never turn them off. Grocery shopping is always fun. Some stuff is more expensive than Canada but lots are not. And one thing for sure is quality for everything at the supermarket is superior.  Fresh takes on a whole new meaning here.

The largest expenses for us were obviously buying the house and car but beyond that furnishing the house and now coming up next month for my used Nissan Cube, SHAKEN. Shaken is the compulsory car inspection that takes place every two years (new cars are only inspected after the first 3 then go to a 2 year interval). This keeps polluting cars and hazards off the road. It can get costly as there are taxes and insurance to pay and if they find things wrong with your car, you need to pay for repairs to keep the car on the road:

1. Compulsory Automobile Safety Inspection 
2. Weight Tax 
3. Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance or CALI

Ah and there is the cost of internet monthly as well. It's pricier than Canada but considerably faster and they don't throttle me (at least not yet). I'm on Hikar Flets, 100mbps fiber to the home. Pretty good I must say. Well I'm off to Chiba to get some Christmas shopping done and dropping into Dospara to pick up some more computer gear. Will update again soon!

Reporting from Kiminomori in Oamishirasato, Chiba where the trees have begun changing colors. The course here is still in great shape. The temperatures have dipped a bit triggering the switch to fall colors but the sun is still nice and warm, so 16C feels like over 20C.  In Japan, golf is an all year round sport, at least in the mid to southern regions of Japan. Here in Chiba (we're just 40 minutes south east of Tokyo) I'm hoping the temps stay between 5-10C all winter. That will be a big improvement over -20C in Canada. (^_^)

 

 

Took a walk with the wife around the neighborhood today and the course is still looking in great condition for mid October. Temps here in chiba are around 22-23C daily which is great for golf. It is getting darker quite a bit earlier. Still deciding whether to get a long term membership here. Wonderful place to live though as people are very friendly and outgoing.

 

Also picked up some new shoes for the fall/winter season here in Japan which is all year round golf! Tourstage's SHV800 3D Spike shoe. My last pair of Tourstages were 25.5cm or a 7.5US size which ended up a little big even though that's usually my size. The golf shoes here are made extra wide for comfort always which make the shoe seem far more spacious than its size. Got a 25cm / 7US this time around tand they are a perfect fit!

So we take possesion of the house next week and make our move to Kiminomori. We're very excited about it all and have lots to do! The weather has been coouling down a lot lately. Last night was the coolest night since we arrived in Japan early August. What that means is good weather for golf! July and August are simply too hot for golf in my mind, it's not even just the heat, it's the humidity. It's so dense and sticky here in the summer it even makes it hard to breathe. 

Kiminomori is a Championship semi private club, Par 72 7,055 yard 18 hole course.  USGA course rating 73.3 the golf course and residential community is located on top of a small mountain about 12 minutes from Oami JR Station by bus or 6-7 minutes by car and is right off the main IC (Yamada Interchange). Kiminomori is right in between Oami and Togane a much bigger city which is very convenient. Kiminomori itself is very isolated and has that resort type/gated community feel. One supermarket and 7-Eleven conbini are within a 5 minute walk. The community is made of primarily golf lovers and nature lovers. I think its going to be a great place for us!