The ceremony went smoothly and as far as I can tell the gods were happy with their sake and raw red snapper. I only hope they were occupied elsewhere when I placed the pine sprig upside down on the shrine. The priest assured me it was fine, but these gods can be a fickle lot. It won't come to human sacrifice, but the local goats should be wary.
Now that the formalities are out of the way, we can get started on the house. The first step is clearing some trees to make way for the foundation. As you can see from the photos, our land is pretty much a forest of silver birches at the moment so it is not a small job. Our architect/builder suggested that we hire professionals to cut the trees down, since some of them are fairly large. But why spend money on professionals when you have friends with chainsaws? Besides, the goal of this project is to incorporate as much DIY as possible and what could be more fun than throwing on a flannel shirt and living the life of a lumberjack for a weekend!
So for the price of a BBQ and a case of beer (the only acceptable means of payment in Niseko), me and some friends will be felling trees in reckless abandon. My friend with the chainsaw assures me he can drop a tree on a dime, but nevertheless the neighbors have been warned. I hope the cakes we gave them will offset any crushed cars or broken windows that may result from this endeavor.
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