Last week, Sasaki-san and I were looking for stones to use as supports under the deck which will extend along the front of the house. We searched around 555 but without success. Then I remembered that last summer Sakaguchi-san saw a big quarried stone under one of the shipping containers. It was holding up the container just like we want to do with the deck.
So when I saw Kawasaki-san, I asked him about the stone. He told us that the stone is Oya-ishi from a quarry in Tochigi that I’ve been to several times, first with Tara and more recently with Heather. I am delighted that I have yet another connection between 555 and my happy memories.
Not only that, but he told us there is more than the one visible block of Oya stone – the entire container is supported by them.
Removing the shipping containers from 555 has been an ongoing process. The first two were taken down before construction began. The remaining two have been on the To Do list for a while. I can understand the delay. This 30 year old old Nittsu Pelican container between the “fishing shed” and “tire-yama” is too rusty to just haul away.
Sasaki-san suggested we get one of our contractors to knock it over with a yumbo so that the metal scrappers could have at it.
But that’s not what happened. The day after our conversation, Kawasai-san started dismantling the container.
For three days in mid-summer heat, he loosened rusty bolts, sawed through supports, ripped up flooring and took it completely apart, neatly processing everything for scrap or reuse. Mrs. Kawasaki pitched in and I did what I could. Probably my most useful action was bringing down the long extension cord and the fan from the barn.
And from under the container, eight Oya-ishi blocks appeared. Not only will I be able to support the deck, I have enough to use as a step between the doma and the living room.
And what a difference the removal of the container has made. The photo at the top of the page is from March 2021, when we first saw the house. And here’s the same space today:
