FIRST ISSUE . VOL.001 . 2026 FREE + From Japan
EHN
ESTIMATE HACKER NEWS
A free board where Japan's real estimates gather
The paper for people who want to read a price right.
Front PageThe MakerWhyHow it worksThe Name
VOICES
"Three quotes, three totals. Which one is fair?"/ "One line just says lump sum. No breakdown at all."/ "I asked online. I got sympathy, not an answer."/ "It is the most expensive thing I will ever buy, and I am guessing."/ "Three quotes, three totals. Which one is fair?"/ "One line just says lump sum. No breakdown at all."/ "I asked online. I got sympathy, not an answer."/ "It is the most expensive thing I will ever buy, and I am guessing."/
F R O N T P A G ETHE MAKER

Carpenter at 15. Now building AI. I am not a researcher. I started on a building site.

I picked up a plane and a chisel at fifteen, on a site in Osaka. Site manager, then construction management, then I taught myself to build AI. Along the way I read hundreds of estimates. That is the one thing I have that most homeowners do not: a ruler. So I decided to build a place where everyone could borrow one.

FIELD NOTES . THE PROBLEM IN FOUR PANELS
Faced with a quote, everyone makes the same face.
This is not just your problem.
1 . IT ARRIVES
?
A quote arrives. A column of numbers. No way to tell if it is high or fair.
2 . YOU COMPARE
You gather three quotes. All different. You compared, and understand less.
3 . YOU ASK
You ask online. Sympathy gathers. But the answer never comes.
4 . SO YOU DECIDE
You decide on a hunch.
You have no ruler.
So I built a newspaper.

EHN (Estimate Hacker News) is a free public board where real estimates from across Japan gather.
You post your one sheet. You see someone else's. That simple thing did not exist anywhere before.

up to 91%
Same house, same work. Yet the quotes ranged this far apart.
That is why spotting the fair price alone is hard by design. Source: HORIZON SHIELD real cases (98)
WHY WE GATHER THEM
The more sheets gather, the thicker everyone's ruler grows.
This is not a place to expose anyone. It is a place to build a ruler, together.
+You post -> one sheet joins the corpus
+Someone posts -> you gain a sheet to compare
+A comment lands -> "same here" connects
=the whole country's ruler grows one notch
Same 80 sqm exterior paint job, this far apart
Firm A1.68M
Firm B2.40M
Firm C3.98M
* illustrative figures, in yen
EHN / THREE FUNCTIONSpost . talk . flag
FUNCTION 01

Post

Share your estimate anonymously. A photo or a PDF. Your one sheet becomes someone's ruler.

Firm names, your name, phone and address are removed before anything goes public.
FUNCTION 02

Talk

Comment on the same worry. "Same here" connects here. You do not have to carry it alone.

Comments are reviewed before posting. No trolling, no naming of individuals.
FUNCTION 03

Flag

A flag shows whether the price sits in a fair range. The signal is there, at a glance.

▲ CHECK● FAIR RANGE
Not to judge a firm. A flag so you can hold your own ruler.
¥0
FREE FOREVER

This board is free. Forever.

To post . to read . to comment . to flag
No membership. No ads.
We believe the gathering of estimates is the value, in itself.
EXTRA / LAUNCH OFFER (JAPAN) for the first people who post
first 20 posters

For those who post,
a normally ¥5,500 simple estimate assessment, free.

Your one sheet, read by thirty years on the tools and a construction-cost AI called KIRA. Where the market sits, and where the number looks inflated. The first notch on your ruler.

WHO
Anyone who posts and
passes anonymization
SLOTS
First 20
(held at time of post)
PACE
One per day,
for quality

* The simple assessment tells you whether one estimate is reasonable. It is a separate service from the negotiation-use reverse estimate or the ¥55,000 detailed audit. * Posted estimates are published only after anonymization and the poster's consent. * The board and offer are operated in Japanese.

Why "Hacker News"?
Estimate + Hacker News = EHN

A newspaper read by people who learn to read an estimate.
Who learn to read a price, and stop being overcharged.
That is where the name comes from.

The first issue is live. Come see it.

The board runs in Japanese. The idea travels in any language.