In this video I discuss the current abandoned houses in Japan crisis also know as “Akiya”. Migration to urban areas and aging population is contributing to this crisis. We have our first community meeting while living in the countryside and some of the benefits of living in rural Japan. Thanks for watching!
I am an American (of Mexican descent) living and working in Japan. My wife of 32 (plus) years is from Japan. We bought a vacant or empty house “Akiya” in the countryside of Japan near Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture for $35,000 (5 million Yen as of August 2022). The property consists of a 2-story house built in 1975, small guest house, large 2 car garage, storage building, and 3/4 acres of land with many fruit trees.
As very common when purchasing an Akiya in Japan, the personal belongings of the previous owner were still in the house. It took multiple trips to the local recycle center to dispose of all the property.
The grounds were overgrown with many weeds and vines. This will take a while to get under control, but it is looking much better around the property, and I think the neighbors are happy to see us cleaning up.
This traditional Japanese house also features a gorgeous Japanese Garden in much need of cleaning up and bringing it back to its glory. I am still working on the garden, but it already looks stunning under a beautiful maple tree and huge decorative stones.
We performed an extensive renovation in the entire house. We focused on keeping traditional Japanese features such as the engawa, shoji doors, ranma, shikkui, tatami room, but incorporated modern features making a very comfortable house for years to come. Walls, ceilings, floors were insulated. New modern kitchen, toilets and bathroom units were installed. We installed a wood burning cast iron stove (Quadra-Fire, Explorer II). New electrical throughout the entire house and guest house. Double pane windows and doors installed and much more.
#japan #japancountryside #japanesevacanthouse #akiya #traditionaljapanesehouse #ruraljapan
Other videos of our Akiya traditional Japanese house renovation:
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15 Comments
Can’t help but think that the areas out in the boonies will just go back to nature quite soon. Some archaeologists will uncover the main roads in these areas 1000 years from now and make up a wild crackpot story and call themselves a professor to sell books and stuff. The Gomi Stations will be “lost ancient technology” that only the old sages of 2023 knew about 😂
I find it amazing how many empty propertys in rural Japan,in the UK we have a massive shortage of properties or they get brought up as second/holiday homes.
I just hope that the home office trend after covid19 can rejuvenate also rural Japan. You don't need to be in the big cities especially in IT. Yes you have to maintain your business connections but that's not the majority of the time. The problem is may be to convince people to go to a rural area for a job. But if there is fast Internet there should be hopefully more opportunities for the stunning town.
The "financial incentive" is a tax-base. If they don't want their town to die, they need to incentive people living there. Community systems don't work without enough people. The local municipalities need to work with the national government to change the tax laws, reduce the building costs, and encourage/enable job-creating businesses to exist anywhere outside of top 3 cities.
Japan can't work if the whole country and all of its commerce and industry migrates to Tokyo because that's the only place with jobs.
great video. My wife and I are going to move to Osaka area. We are from Vancouver, Canada do you know of any good real estate agents that my be willing to help us buy a home there. It's hard, Oh I got a job for driving a stage couch on a 3yr contract then renew for 5 yrs if wanted. Thanks your videos help me out
I think it's a trend that's going to just get worse. I was watching a video the other day about how young Japanese folks just don't care about family life. So few of them want kids; and with Japanese visas so strict, and have such few categories for foreigners to even apply for…the problem will only worsen.
When I was there a few years ago, on a bus trip we passed through so many…dead towns. A friend of mine lived in a town where they even closed the school down, because there were such few students.
I don't think it's soley a problem for Japan though. I think Japan is the 'canary in the coal mine'. The world is having fewer kids. I don't think it's anything cultural, I believe it's just that we spend more time looking at our phones, and mobile devices, than each other.
Hello, my name is Juliet and I live in NYC originally from Houston Texas. I can’t afford to buy a home in the states and I’ve always wanted to live in Japan and now that I can see I can afford a house there. I really want to take the plunge and live in the countryside someone’s over there my question are, can a ex-convict buy property there? Also, what is the process of getting like permanent residence there if you buy a house? Because if I can only stay there for 90 days on a visa, why would I buy a house ? Also, can you get work there ? I’ve been seeing a lot of people showing these beautiful abandoned houses in the countryside of Japan but no one‘s talking about the other burning questions. Like these questions that I just asked that so many of us here want too know. So please share with us and thank you. FYI your home is BEAUTIFUL 🤩
Will they consider giving a visa to someone who just wants start a weed whacking service?
I lived in rural Japan with my Japanese husband from 1991 to 2004 and even though our village was more than half empty no one would rent to us. It was heartbreaking. I found out that once you’re in they can’t evict you but that wasn’t our case. I did everything I was required as a member of the village (weddings funerals monthly cleaning,etc etc…)I hope things have gotten better.
Hey coco, as always wishing you all the best and thanks for the content. I am anxious for the spring season footage. Keep strong.
Thanks for the information. I am watching but I always dont comment but just wanted to make sure you knew an i know commenting helps your channel.
What proportion of houses in your town are vacant? I am guessing it would be fairly representative of rural Japanese towns.
There is zero incentive for younger Japanese to live in these places. What are young families going to do there? Where is the school? How many students? When will it eventually close? Shops? Convenience stores? Entertainment? Hospitals? Usually nothing around. Akiya banks are the last stop and no one advertises properties there. It is only now starting to vaguely change in terms of charging people for essentially abandoned inhereted properties. There is no incentive or punishment for relatives to sell.
Hey mate – you're doing a great job spreading the word. I became interested in Akiya and found your videos, which have been helpful. We are in rural Oita and the community we're in is small but super nice. People bring us vegetables and come by to chat – almost all of them are in their 60s-80s.
We are looking for an Akiya in our area – I am keeping an eye on our local Akiya bank.
I would buy one and move there instantly. But there is no suitable visa that I could take to stay there permanently