Illustration of a Japanese residential neighborhood with traditional and modern houses, showing foreign buyers walking with a local property specialist.

Buying property in Japan

2026/10/26

What you must verify yourself before buying property in Japan

What you must verify yourself before buying property in Japan Public records will tell you what a property is permitted to be. They will not tell you what it is. These are the questions that decide whether a purchase works, which offices hold the answers, ...

2026/10/13

The two rooms nobody opens during a viewing

The two rooms nobody opens during a viewing A viewing of a Japanese house takes about thirty minutes. You see the rooms, the kitchen, the view from the windows. The underfloor space and the roof space stay shut, and they are the only two places in the bui ...

2026/10/13

Thirty pages, read aloud, in Japanese, before you sign

Thirty pages, read aloud, in Japanese, before you sign Japan puts a licensed professional across the table from you and has them read out every restriction, risk and encumbrance attached to the property before you commit. It is a genuinely good system, an ...

2026/10/13

Buying property here will not let you live here

Buying property here will not let you live here It is among the most common questions we receive from overseas, and the answer is not complicated. Property ownership and the right to reside in Japan are governed by different legislation and have no connec ...

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 ...

2026/10/15

Buying a Japanese house without being in Japan

Buying a Japanese house without being in Japan It is legally possible, and possible is not the same as straightforward. Here is the whole sequence, from finding a property to receiving the keys, with the overseas obstacle at each stage set out before you ...

2026/10/13

Whether you can run it as a holiday let is decided before you buy

Whether you can run it as a holiday let is decided before you buy Three things determine whether short-term letting is possible at a given Japanese address, and all three are fixed before you make an offer. None of them can be changed afterwards, and none ...

2026/10/13

Buying an apartment means buying the building's finances

Buying an apartment means buying the building's finances You are not acquiring a flat. You are acquiring a share in a collective that owns a building, along with its repair fund, its arrears, its decisions and whatever it has been putting off. The unit is ...

2026/10/22

Sometimes you buy the house and rent the ground it stands on

Sometimes you buy the house and rent the ground it stands on In Japan the land and the building are separate pieces of property, and they can have different owners. A listing that looks unusually cheap for its location is sometimes selling you the buildin ...

2026/10/22

Researching a Japanese neighbourhood from ten thousand kilometres away

Researching a Japanese neighbourhood from ten thousand kilometres away You can establish more about a Japanese location without leaving your desk than most buyers establish after visiting. Stations, schools, hospitals, shops, and the direction the populat ...

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