I didn't want my family's old house in Japan to sit empty — so I turned it into a café

Aoi Onodera turned his great aunt's house in Japan into a cafe.

Reeno Hashimoto

• Aoi Onodera grew up spending time with his family at his great aunt's house in Japan.
• After she died, he was determined not to let the 1940s home become an empty akiya.
• Now 34, he and his sister have turned the old Japanese home into a café.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aoi Onodera, 34, which took place at Aoito, the café he manages in Zushi, Japan. His...