How to build a library Part 2: In Japan, your space will probably be empty

If your space currently has a tenant who’s moving or shutting down their business, who does the demolition of the current shop? This was a question I was wondering about for some time. In Japan at least, it’s the responsibility of the previous shop owner to completely gut the place and restore it to its “original” empty state. You will also be expected to do so should you decide to move or close up. So it’s good to save back between ¥6,000,000 to ¥10,000,000 for this depending on the size of the place. Your landlord will be able to tell you a rough amount that you’ll be expected to have for this.

I was able to snap some photos of this process. The demolition crew were nice enough to ask me about certain things that ought to be left in place to save costs for when we rebuild (such as keeping the air conditioner as is).