Episode 23 Secret Moving During the Pandemic

The "Yodoe Project" started the day before Christmas Eve in 2018. A major cleanup was done during the second round in late January 2019, and demolition and renovation proceeded during the third (March), fourth (May), fifth (July), sixth (September), seventh (December), eighth round (February 2020), and ninth round (March). The preparations to move back to Yodoe were complete, and on March 19th, Yoko made a big decision.

Initially, she was planning to move her belongings from her home in Osaka to Yodoe in mid-April, registering herself as a Yonago residence by the end of April, and spending about two weeks overseas in early May. She had already made reservations for flights and accomodation. Even after she started living in Yodoe, she was planning to live in two locations, Osaka and Yodoe. She was hoping to frequently go back and forth between two places and work in Osaka about 10 to 15 days a month, using the Tsukamoto office.

However, the number of COVID-19 patients was increasing daily in urban areas of Japan and the world. On the other hand, not a single person had been infected in Tottori Prefecture at that time. With this kind of situation, it would be quite difficult to travel abroad, even going back and forth between Osaka and Yonago.  

Therefore, Yoko made two big decisions: cancel the overseas travel plan(cancel accommodation reservations) and withdraw from the Tsukamoto office in Osaka (send a cancellation notice to a real estate agent). 

On April 7th, 2020, a state of emergency was declared in seven prefectures: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka. Due to the rental contract of the current house, Yoko could not postpone the date of the move, so she decided to bring their belongings to the new home secretly on April 14th. Their belongings were loaded into a mover’s truck and were transported to Yodoe. Meanwhile, she and her daughter drove themselves and arrived there around 8:00 p.m. In the Western-style room, there were beds made by Kyo-chan (Kyohei Nagakubo) from Hamamura, Tottori Prefecture.

The next day, the 15th, the mover truck came to a new house in Yodoe. Leaving a large amount of cardboard behind, Yoko and Momoko opened only two cardboard boxes and took out some of their stuff. Then they called their neighbors to let them know that their belongings had been brought in. Without going anywhere, they returned to Osaka straight on the same day. In May, let’s stay at home and organize these boxes. That's how she was thinking.

However, on the 16th, the state of emergency was expanded nationwide. Then she received a phone call.

It was from Mr. Oshita, the owner of Mei-chan Farm in Yodoe.

"Yoko, you said that you were planning to come back here during Golden Week (a 10-day holiday that starts from the end of April to the beginning of May) and sort out your belongings. Villagers here worry that the coronavirus may spread throughout the community if you return that time. I have a message from the Neighborhood President. Could you at least spend Golden Week in Osaka instead of returning here?"

Yoko and her daughter Momoko had no place to stay starting in May since the rental contract for their home in Osaka would be terminated by the end of April. She was planning to travel overseas in May, but this plan was also canceled. Therefore, they moved around AirBnB one after another in Osaka during the Golden Week.

“Staying in various AirBnB in Osaka now will be a good experience for running a guesthouse in Yodoe in the future.”

She took the situation positively and decided to enjoy the hermit life in Osaka with Momoko during the Golden Week. 

In mid-May, Yoko already planned to withdraw from Tsukamoto office completely and arranged for a mover as well. But can we? The days continued to be filled with anxiety and at the mercy of the ever-changing circumstances.