Slippery Rock natives, brothers make TV debut
After three years stationed in West Texas, Nicholas Hufnagel excitedly transferred to Tokyo, Japan.
“I was coming to the end of my window in Texas and wanted to do something big,” Hufnagel, 26, an Air Force maintenance officer currently working in the Middle East, wrote in an email.
“Japan was by far the most exciting option of bases available, and I was lucky enough to get it.”
He flew his little brother Jack Hufnagel, a UI/UX designer who currently lives in the Slippery Rock area, out in the hopes that he would move there, too.
The Hufnagels' five-day, house hunting adventure in Japan is captured in HGTV's “House Hunters International” episode “Operation Get Little Bro to Move to Tokyo” that first aired Sept. 25 and marked the first episode in Season 148.
Since Nicholas, who has resided in Japan since September 2018, first learned he would be living in the country his goal became earning a spot on the reality television show that follows home hunters and real estate agents as they check out all sorts of architectural styles and work through the idiosyncrasies of buying real estate in other countries.
“I love the TV show and still regularly watch it,” Nicholas wrote. “I also like attention and doing atypical things, plus it was an excuse to get my brother to come to visit.”
Jack, 25, felt surprised when his brother called to ask if he wanted to be on television, he said. The trip was his first time to Japan.“I loved it all,” said Jack, a 2012 graduate of Slippery Rock Area High School, Butler Community College graduate and 2018 graduate of Edinboro University.Jack and Nicholas are a duo, Nicholas wrote, adding he is trying to get his brother to join the military.“We have the same sense of humor, but he definitely is the more relaxed brother. He goes with the flow, whereas I try to cram too much into everything,” he wrote. “You can see that dynamic in the episode where he has to keep me grounded.”The only clash was over what would work for both brothers.“I wanted Jack to move to Japan for this opportunity to live rent-free with me,” he wrote. “His input was essential to the final decision.”Houses are different in Japan compared with a cul-de-sac in the United States where houses are visibly part of housing plans, Jack said.During the course of filming, they saw two houses and one apartment.The apartment was the smallest property and reminded Nicholas of a pop-up RV or tiny home, he wrote.The second property was a traditional style house with traditional elements, while the third house, the largest structure and closest to his base, was the most western-styled.
A Japanese house is almost the same as an American house, but there are noticeable differences, Nicholas wrote.“It is almost like an alien designed a simulation of how they thought Americans lived,” he wrote. “For example, my toilets have a sink built into the water basin on top, or every appliance in my house sings a song when it finishes, or my oven is the size of a shoebox and is designed to only cook fish.”Tight spaces best describe Japanese homes, Jack said. He and his brother bent down through areas with low ceilings, while in other houses they could touch both sides of the walls with arms outstretched.Although they spent eight to 12 hours a day filming, only minutes of footage from their various activities around Japan made it in the episode, he said.One of Jack's favorite parts of the trip was when the brothers hiked the Fushimi Inari Shrine, an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates,In Shibuya, a special ward in Tokyo, Japan, the brothers saw over 1,000 people cross Shibuya Crossing, which is rumored to be the busiest intersection in the world, visited the interactive art museum Team Lab and dressed a corgi and lobster as they drove in a real Mario Kart experience.Nicholas enjoyed the bullet train they rode to Kyoto to see the city's shrines and temples.“We went south to a town called Nara, which is known for its tame deer,” he wrote. “They were like pigeons, and the deer were so friendly they would walk up to people, bow and wait for a treat.”Before Japan, Nicholas was stationed in Abilene, Texas, where his family would visit him during holidays, Jack said, adding the 1,300 miles made the trip difficult.
“We don't get to see him all that much with him being on the other side of the world,” he said.Nicholas wrote he saw family and friends in Pennsylvania about once a year during his stay in Texas.Among shorter travels along the way, Nicholas, who has been in the military for four years, has had extended assignments to Africa, including Dakar, Senegal and Cotonou, Benin.“I think I have seen them more since I moved to Japan,” he wrote. “I have found work trips or used airline points to get back home several times this past year. Now it's their turn to come to see me.”From being on the show, Nicholas gained a new experience with his brother and a new interesting fact to share when introducing himself to new people.“The show taught me that you get what you set your mind to and that most people are supportive of silly aspirations like being on your favorite TV show and will help you accomplish your goals,” he wrote.Memories from the trip are unforgettable, said Jack, who did not make the move to Japan.“It was good to see him and have that little adventure,” he said.Nicholas wrote sharing Japan with his brother was the highlight of the experience.“It is a unique time in both of our lives, and I do not think we could have had an adventure like this in the future,” he wrote. “It was captured on film, and it is something that we can hold onto forever.”
