I have a thought about all the sake bottles and other new containers found in the house being renovated. Once I visited a Japanese friend's house during a trip to Japan and upstairs he had hundreds of boxes of new shoes. It turns out that those shoes were part of his obligation to a younger brother that had a shoe store that went out of business. The store went under and he was desperately trying to help him dispose of the excess inventory, without much luck. Looked like he might lose a lot of money.

Other Japanese friends of this guy tell me he is really an old style/old school Japanese man. This was an obligation to his brother that he could not refuse. Other wise he's a pretty quiet but plain spoken man and a bit of a racist (maybe).

So maybe that "stuff" is the remainder of a store that closed.

BTW, REALLY enjoying the renovation of the house! Congratulations !