The whole house, then everything past the front door.

Two Houses is a 543-page digital book by Ken Tsukamoto — why Japanese life feels calm, why American life feels exhausting, and the measurement underneath every habit. Written for the people who watch the channel.

$47$79

Early-bird price until the launch window closes.

Get the Book — $47

Digital book (PDF) · Read on any phone, tablet or computer, or print it · 30-day money-back guarantee · Secure checkout

Ken Tsukamoto at his desk

What's inside

  • 543 pages
  • 96 chapters
  • Ten-room home audit
  • Glossary
  • Source ledger
  • Cut-out cards

Every chapter has the same four parts: the measurement, the memory from the house I grew up in, the honest concession to America, and two questions you can ask of one object tonight. Here are eight real pages.

Contents pages listing the parts and chapters
Contents · the first two of six pages
Chapter 1, The Genkan
Chapter 1 · The Genkan
Chapter 3, Eighty Centimetres
Chapter 3 · Eighty Centimetres
Chapter 39, My Mother's Ledger Came in the Mail
Chapter 39 · My Mother's Ledger Came in the Mail
The table of twenty-five things America does better
Chapter 61 · Where America Is Right, the table
Chapter 94, Two Questions, with the master pair
Chapter 94 · Two Questions
The Source Ledger appendix
Appendix B · The Source Ledger
The printable House Audit
Appendix D · The House Audit, one page per room

Swipe to see more pages. Tap any page to enlarge it.

What the book covers

It starts at the front door and works outward. The house first, room by room. Then the kitchen, the bathroom, the money, the school, the office, the street, the year, and the elders.

See all 96 chapters

The House

  1. The Genkan
  2. The Room That Had Three Jobs
  3. Eighty Centimetres
  4. Walls That Move, One Warm Room
  5. Rooms Measured in Bodies
  6. The Wall They Left Empty
  7. The Room Nobody Slept In Last Night
  8. Two Years and a Guarantor
  9. The House That Loses Value
  10. The Balcony
  11. Thin Walls
  12. A House That Expects to Shake

The Kitchen

  1. What a Counter Is For
  2. The Rule Nobody in Japan Has Heard Of
  3. The Pantry on the Corner
  4. Cold Tea from a Machine
  5. Breakfast Is Dinner Again
  6. A Counter with Eight Seats
  7. Thirty-Eight Children, One Ladle

The Bathroom and the Body

  1. The Tub Is Not Where You Get Clean
  2. The Towel, the Hose, the Balcony
  3. Shared Air
  4. The Smallest Room
  5. Where the Family Sleeps
  6. Laundry Every Day
  7. A Shoe Is Not an Outfit
  8. The Mask on the Train

The Twelve Objects

  1. Three Things You've Been Told That Are False
  2. The Twelve, Room by Room

The Habits

  1. A House Full of Postponed Decisions
  2. Addresses, Journeys, Rhythm
  3. I Cleaned My Own Classroom at Nine
  4. Four Things Installed Before I Was Eleven

Cleaning and Waste

  1. Six Bags and a Calendar
  2. Who Pays for the Bottle
  3. A Country with No Bins
  4. The Tissue Economy
  5. What Clean Means

The Money

  1. My Mother's Ledger Came in the Mail
  2. The Grammar of a Banknote
  3. Rails, Not Virtues
  4. The Door That Wasn't in the Wall
  5. The Tax You Never See
  6. The Pension and the Envelope
  7. Insured by the Nation, Insured by the Boss
  8. The Seal and the Signature
  9. Why Nothing Is On Sale
  10. The Gift That Requires a Gift
  11. What a Wedding and a Funeral Cost

The Sentences

  1. Four Sentences That Went Missing
  2. Hurry Up

Family and School

  1. The Uniform
  2. Six Days a Week and a Club
  3. The Ladder
  4. The Register
  5. The Introduction
  6. The Only Child

The Other Direction

  1. Six Things I Still Can't Explain
  2. Twenty More Things I Still Can't Explain
  3. The Second Ten
  4. Where America Is Right

The Table and the Year

  1. The Table
  2. The Calendar
  3. The Three Days the Country Stops
  4. The Week the Dead Come Home
  5. Everyone at Once
  6. Four Seasons, Sold Separately
  7. A Picnic Under a Tree, for the Office
  8. Chicken on Christmas, Chocolate in February

The Elders

  1. The House That Is Also for Her
  2. Insured Against Growing Old
  3. The Stone on the Hill
  4. The Funeral in Full
  5. The Dead in the Living Room
  6. Nine Million Empty Houses

The Office

  1. The Train and the Garage
  2. Hired Once
  3. The Lights Stay On
  4. Two Hands and a Card
  5. The Other Half of the Office
  6. The Wall at Thirty
  7. The Third Place Is a Bar

Getting Around

  1. The City the Train Built
  2. The Yellow Plate
  3. The Bicycle at the Door
  4. Three Thousand Dollars for a Licence
  5. Walking as Transport

Neighbours and the Street

  1. The Association
  2. The Clipboard
  3. Carrying the Shrine
  4. The Police Box
  5. The Umbrella Comes Back
  6. The Apology

The System

  1. Two Questions
  2. The Room Walkthrough
  3. Eight Weeks, One Object Each

Appendices

  1. Glossary
  2. The Source Ledger
  3. The Myth Register
  4. The House Audit
  5. The Cards
Ken Tsukamoto

A note from Ken

Everyone here calls me Ken. My mother still calls me Kenichi. I have now lived in America longer than I lived in Japan, which makes me the wrong person to romanticise either country and the right person to measure the wall between them.

Under every habit Americans call Japanese discipline, I found a floor plan, a law, a fee, or a tax code that made the decision for everyone. Under every American habit I have never been able to explain, I found the same thing. Nobody in either country chose any of it. That is the book.

I am not the good example. I own a garage that has never held a car, a bed I defend, central heating I love, and a kitchen drawer I could not describe under oath. I am writing from inside the American house, not from above it.

Ken Tsukamoto@kentsukamoto on YouTube

If it's not for you, it costs nothing.

Email twohousesbyken@gmail.com within 30 days and I'll refund you. No form, no questions.

How it works

  1. 1

    Tap "Get the Book"

    A checkout window opens right here on this page.

  2. 2

    Pay securely

    Card, PayPal or Apple Pay. Checkout is handled by Gumroad, which has processed payments for creators since 2011.

  3. 3

    The book arrives by email

    Within a minute. Open it on your iPad, phone or computer — or print it. It's yours to keep.

Questions people ask

Is this a printed book?

No. It is a digital book — a PDF file, 543 pages, set at 6 by 9 inches. It reads like a printed book on a tablet, and you can print any or all of it yourself. There is no shipping and nothing arrives in the post.

How do I open a PDF?

You already can. Every iPad, iPhone, Android phone, Mac and Windows computer opens PDFs without installing anything. Tap the link in the email and it opens. On an iPad, tap the share icon and choose "Save to Books" to keep it on your shelf.

Can I print it?

Yes. It is set at 6 by 9 inches, which fits letter and A4 paper two pages side by side, or one page per sheet. The house audit and the question cards at the back are designed to be printed.

Can I read it on a Kindle?

Yes, with a caveat. You can send the PDF to your Kindle by email and it will open, but the pages will be small on an older Kindle. It is far better on an iPad, a Kindle Fire, a laptop, or on paper.

Is my card information safe?

Yes. I never see your card. Payment is handled by Gumroad, a checkout company used by hundreds of thousands of writers and creators. Your card details go to them, encrypted, and never to me. PayPal and Apple Pay work too, if you'd rather not type a card number at all.

Why $47?

It is 543 pages and took me most of two years. A hardback of this size would be $40 to $50 in a shop, and I would have to sell it through a shop. This way you pay less than that, it arrives in a minute, and the price includes a full refund if you decide it isn't for you.

Will the price really go up?

Yes. $47 is the early-bird price for the first readers. When the launch window closes it moves to $79. If you can see the $47 price on this page, it hasn't yet.

What if I can't download it?

Email twohousesbyken@gmail.com and I will send the file directly to you. Gumroad also keeps a copy in your account, so you can download it again any time, on any device.

From the comments on the channel

Real comments left on the videos this book grew out of. The book is that voice, at length, with the numbers.

Getting rid of one thing… there are so many, where do I begin? I'll start with a collection of video tapes, over a hundred that I know I'll never watch again. Thank you, Ken.

@Geekiezoid

I am an older American and I grew up with my mind being on what others would think. You've described it so clearly, like I have not heard it before. Thank you.

@MariaAnnRooney

I like that you present facts but you don't judge. Excellent.

@SusanaBraylan

Very therapeutic. Americans really need to listen to this. You gave a word for those feelings we have and being able to let go.

@francesvela5992

One of the most compelling videos about living, memory, philosophy and something I can't describe with American-English words. I'm grateful.

@theajane6444

This is perfect and exactly what I needed. Thank you!

@SteveJones-o9y

One drawer. One object. Tonight.

You have known the answer about most of the objects in your house for years. This book exists to make you say it, and to show you the number that put them there.

$47$79

Early-bird price until the launch window closes.

Get the Book — $47

Digital book (PDF) · Read on any phone, tablet or computer, or print it · 30-day money-back guarantee · Secure checkout