Scenic illustration of a Japanese rural satoyama valley with traditional akiya houses, rice terraces, and visitors walking along a country path.

Akiya and rural property

2026/10/13

Akiya, kominka and rural property in Japan

Akiya, kominka and rural property in Japan Japan has millions of empty houses and they are cheap for reasons that are knowable in advance. Knowing which reason applies to a particular one is the whole exercise. A seller offering a house at the price of a ...

2026/10/13

Insuring a house in Japan that nobody lives in

Insuring a house in Japan that nobody lives in Japanese fire insurance classifies a building by how it is used, and a house with nobody living in it is generally not classified as a home. The class decides the premium, what riders you may attach, and whet ...

2026/10/13

Why Japan’s empty houses are not demolished, and what changed in 2023

Why Japan’s empty houses are not demolished, and what changed in 2023 Japan taxes land with a house on it at a fraction of the rate applied to bare land. Remove the building and the bill multiplies. That single rule produced the country’s vaca ...

2026/10/13

An empty house announces itself every day

An empty house announces itself every day Mail overflowing the box. Grass grown tall. No light at night, no footprints after snow. A house with nobody in it cannot conceal the fact, and some people are looking for exactly that information. By Toru Fujito ...

2026/10/13

The first thing to fail in an empty house is the water

The first thing to fail in an empty house is the water Open the door after six months away and what meets you is not a sight but a smell. Sewer, strong enough to notice from the doorstep. Owners put it down to the house being old. It is not that. It is a ...

2026/10/13

What five, ten and twenty million yen actually buy

What five, ten and twenty million yen actually buy Buy cheap in Japan and just do it up a bit, the forums say. Buying cheap is true. What "a bit" means, and what it costs, is the part nobody writes down. By Toru Fujito Published 11 September 2026 Last upd ...

2026/10/13

Why the house is so cold, and what fixing it costs

Why the house is so cold, and what fixing it costs Every foreigner who spends a first winter in an older Japanese house asks the same question. The answer is that there is almost no insulation in it. The more interesting answer is why, because it was not ...

2026/10/13

The akiya bank is a noticeboard, not an estate agency

The akiya bank is a noticeboard, not an estate agency Looking for a cheap house in Japan? Try the akiya bank. The advice appears in a hundred English articles and videos, and it is correct as far as it goes. What it leaves out is what the system is, and m ...

2026/10/13

Before you buy a kominka

Before you buy a kominka Massive beams, earthen walls, a beaten-earth floor. No category of Japanese property pulls harder on overseas buyers, and the pull is entirely justified. Beautiful, liveable and maintainable are three separate questions, and this ...

2026/10/13

If you inherited Japanese property, there is a deadline

If you inherited Japanese property, there is a deadline Registering an inherited property used to be optional in Japan. Since April 2024 it has been a legal duty, it applies retrospectively to inheritances going back decades, and the grace period for thos ...

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