A Base in Kyoto For Digital Nomads

Colive Kyoto Taikoukyo (Achicochi LLC)

Achicochi LLC established real estate rental service Colive Kyoto Taikoukyo in 2019 to promote the use of old, traditional-style homes. The venture offers monthly serviced apartments for foreign visitors staying in Kyoto for one month or longer packaged with experiences such as cooking rice on a traditional stove or making soba noodles. The experiences take place at Taikoukyo, the 400-year-old residence of the Yamaguchi Family that is registered by Kyoto City as a Tangible Cultural Property. To date, the popular program has welcomed more than 60 visitors.

What was the goal of starting such a service? There were primarily two. The first was to offer digital nomads doing IT-related work or the like while traveling the globe a more comfortable and fulfilling stay in Kyoto. A former digital nomad who has lived in Vietnam and Sri Lanka himself, the company’s founder experienced difficulties securing living and working spaces there and achieving work-life balance. Achicochi aims to replace the unpredictability of travel with a familiar everyday life for digital nomads, thus establishing long-term relationships with “Kyoto fans” who will make extended and repeated stays.

It is hoped that these longer-term and repeat visits will facilitate the second goal— encouraging local community members and enterprises to support and cooperate in receiving foreign visitors, which will in turn lead to urban development that promotes coexistence. While the issue of overtourism is difficult to solve in the short-term, the company believes that medium-term efforts that deepen mutual understanding and trust between residents and visitors are key to the solution. Achicochi also hopes that this will result in Kyoto becoming a “holy land” for digital nomads who come to Japan and Colive Kyoto Taikoukyo the go-to location for long-term stays in the city.

With the estimated 35 million digital nomads in the world an increasing focus of attention, Achicochi conducted a one-week residence program in autumn 2023 called Colive Kyoto Taikoukyo 2023, ahead of Japan introducing its digital nomad visa. The voices of the participants convinced the company that offering three aspects—“living” (residence), “experiences,” and “community” (networking)—simultaneously would create a more valuable service overall.

The most popular experiences are soba-making and cooking rice on a Taisho era stove with firewood and charcoal at Taikoukyo. With traditional features such as a well, hearth, tearoom and moss garden that give a real feel for life over a century ago, these programs offering “experience-type” food in traditional sukiya-zukuri architectural style surroundings are already highly popular with foreign visitors.

Other programs offered include a Kyoai (dye obtained from indigo plant leaves fermented by microorganisms) dyeing experience. Participants can experience Kyoai made by a specialist dyer who has exhibited in France and try dyeing for themselves at a studio in Oharano. Seasonal and event-related programs are also scheduled from time to time.

As exemplified by Colive Kyoto Taikoukyo, Achicochi places importance on the use of old houses as business entities. In addition to promoting the use of Cultural Properties, the company has introduced enhancements such as multilingual and digital technology which it is hoped will contribute to passing on such houses to future generations.

As a further initiative, the company is trying its hand at coordinating renovations of dilapidated, disused residential properties for reuse by community businesses. Presently, it is working with a group of young people on a DIY renovation of a 60-year-old house in the Fushimi Momoyama area that is slated to become a shisha (waterpipe smoking) bar. Cognizant of their responsibility as bearers of the local culture, they are building a space of interaction transcending age and nationality that local residents and visitors can enjoy together.