Water Mill home sale to help Japan victims

For years, Setsuo Ito, 63, has been a motivated seller of the 12,000-square-foot Hamptons home he designed in Water Mill, an exclusive abode that boasts sweeping views of both Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean from a 300-foot-high perch.

But when the ground gave way in Ito's native Japan and the water rushed in during a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people in March, Ito approached the sale with a renewed sense of purpose: He decided to donate 10 percent of the proceeds from an auction to victims of the disaster.

"Soon after that [the earthquake] I decided to donate it," he said Thursday night from his home in Utah, adding that the proceeds from the sale of a home he has had since 1993 will go toward a charity he established, Japan Rescue Foundation.

Ito, an artist, comes from Ishioka City, Japan, which is in an area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The power plant experienced near-meltdowns following a powerful earthquake that struck March 11.

Thursday night, Ito said he has accepted an offer and expects the sale to be completed in several weeks. He hopes to visit Japan in September to observe for himself what kinds of help the residents need and to use the money to help provide it, he said.

"Some of the money we try to donate to the other organizations," he said. "And then I'm probably going to Japan and work with the needy there."

When Ito first started trying to sell the home in 2007, he listed it for $30 million, but began asking for less, settling at about $9.9 million as recently as January, according to The New York Times. He vowed not to accept bids lower than $5.995 million for the home and $1.925 million for the land, the Times reported.

He declined Thursday night to say what bid he has accepted.

Ito wouldn't be the first person to devote a portion of his largesse to ease the plight of the victims of the disaster.

A portrait that artist Carl Hess painted from an Internet photograph of young Japanese girl who cried as she watched the earthquake and tsunami unfold, sold for $1,500 and Hess gave the proceeds to Japan Aid: Healing and Hope for Kids and Seniors event, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Other recent acts of philanthropy toward the victims of the tragedy include donated proceeds from auctions of a race car and a violin, according to news reports.