DIY Investigation: ¥50,000. Hiring a Pro: ¥800,000 — Ex-“Handyman” Reveals All on 5ch

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The story

On 5ch’s Newsspeed VIP board, the “Bored Old Guy” — famous for his AA (ASCII art) avatar — showed up, and the thread rambled from haggling over air conditioners and appliances to the inside scoop on investigations he used to handle as a jack-of-all-trades handyman.

What really grabbed posters’ attention was the cost of investigations: his claim that digging into someone’s property records and personal conduct yourself runs about ¥50,000, while hiring a professional agency costs ¥800,000, left the thread stunned.

What people said

1AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:41
__,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Bored
9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:49
This old guy's here two days running?
You really got that much free time?
10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:49
Re: #9
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ I'm only free right now
13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:52
(´・ω・`) You can actually haggle a fair bit — at K's Denki (electronics chain) over New Year's I got it from ¥84,000 down to ¥60,000

(´・ω・`) Toshiba, I think? One size up from 40 (inches)
15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:53
Re: #13
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ I want a 55-inch Regza (Toshiba TV brand)
At Costco it's been fluctuating between ¥68,000 and ¥89,000
17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:54
Did you take on some city-hall type job again?
A different gig?
19AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:55
Re: #17
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Nah, this is my actual main job
20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:55
Isn't the Viera one just a fluke?
That's a Panasonic, right?
22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:57
Re: #20
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Guess so
This Panasonic air conditioner
I got as a monitor freebie 5 years ago
It's slow to start and doesn't cool fast
The casing's flimsy too
Feels like Panasonic's gone downhill compared to the old days
21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:56
Didn't you quit the handyman business?
I forget
23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 12:57
Re: #21
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ I still do a bit of it
26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:00
So Panasonic isn't the trusty brand it used to be, huh
My brother recently bought me an old TV recorder
Thinking back on it now, sure it's old, but the lifespan might've been pretty short too

What was the toughest job you had as a handyman?
29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:01
Re: #26
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ The National (Panasonic's old brand name) days were good
Around 2014 it started rattling for some reason

The tough one?
Detective work
27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:00
(´・ω・`) I haggled down a Kirigamine (Mitsubishi Electric) air conditioner too
Got it done that same evening, installation included, for ¥96,000

(´・ω・`) Apparently modern ACs are more energy-efficient but have less power than the old ones
Electricity cost is supposedly cheaper than running a hair dryer
30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:02
Re: #27
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ For air conditioners I want the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries BEAVER home model
That one breaks down the least
31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:02
Detective?
Like solving mysteries?
Or affair investigations?
32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:03
Re: #31
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Two weeks of surveillance work
33AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:05
Re: #30
(´・ω・`) !! The old one was actually an AC named Beaver
35AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:07
Re: #33
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Mitsubishi Electric makes Kirigamine
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries makes BEAVER

Everyone says Daikin's the best
but Daikin's pricey
BEAVER's the cheapest
Kirigamine is positioned as BEAVER's upgraded version
34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:06
So like a private investigation agency?
I guess agencies charge more
How'd the surveillance go?
36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:08
Re: #34
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Pointing a telephoto camera at the apartment building across the street
to track down the affair partner
37AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:10
Sounds like a hassle
I hear specialists in that field charge a ton
Or maybe you just didn't realize it went that far?
38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:11
Re: #37
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ "Or maybe you just didn't realize it went that far?"

Meaning?
40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:12
Guess my wording was off
I meant affair/infidelity investigation firms
They apparently charge quite a lot
42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:13
Re: #40
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Hm?
You mean the cost?
Or the fee for hiring them?
43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:14
All of it
Saw it on TV — worst case it runs into the millions of yen
46AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:20
Re: #43
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ I see
Honestly, you can do the investigating yourself
The only ones who can't are either clueless about this stuff (johaku, "info-weak")
or people who won't even try
or people who just don't have the energy
45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:19
(´・ω・`) A guy in his 20s who was hospitalized with me two years back was always playing online mahjong
Looked like he was having fun
48AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:21
Re: #45
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Mahjong's about luck and strategy
It's a different beast from gacha (lootbox gambling), which is pure luck
49AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:22
Re: #45
It's perfect for killing time, after all
58AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:39
Re: #45
Hey, hospital guy — you still in there?!?! Huh?
50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:22
Well, anyone who hires a handyman for this stuff must be loaded
If you've got the energy, an affair investigation's a piece of cake
What you can't do alone is stuff like breakup agencies (wakaresase-ya, professional relationship-wreckers) or honeytraps for when you want alimony but don't have real grounds for divorce
51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:30
Re: #50
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Back in the day I handled a personal case digging into someone's real estate
Doing it myself cost about ¥50,000
Hiring it out was about ¥800,000
81AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:01
If you're that bored, come exterminate the bugs around my apartment building ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
84AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:03
Re: #81
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Kuma-tan (the bear-emoji poster)
Kuma-tan, that job's about the level of a Silver Human Resource Center (senior-citizen job-placement service) gig
92AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:11
Re: #81
Hey, there's that bear bastard again 🐻
97AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:20
I don't get what role you're playing here
99AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:23
Whoa hey, even Observation Deck guy recognizes the bear now, you bastard
100AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:25
Re: #97
Hey you bastard, if you don't hurry up and learn this, Kashiwa and Observation Deck, those yakuza bastards, are gonna rough you up, you bastard
101AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:28
Re: #99
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ HAHAHA

Re: #100
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Not yakuza
Though it might be a shady kind of business
102AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:29
Re: #100
  __,.,,_
./ *・ω・ヽ Anyway, go download MJ (a mahjong game)

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsspeed VIP) thread “./ *・ω・ヽ The Bored Old Guy.”

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