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

How the industry works

2026/10/13

How Japanese property transactions actually work

How Japanese property transactions actually work Who is paid by whom, at what point, and what that means for the person who cannot read the documents. Written by a licensed transaction specialist whose company is not paid on the sale. Japanese brokerage h ...

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 ...

2026/10/15

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 ...

2026/10/22

The person helping you buy may be paid by the seller as well

The person helping you buy may be paid by the seller as well In Japan one firm may act for both sides of a property sale and take a commission from each. It is entirely lawful, it is common, and most foreign buyers arrive from countries where it is restri ...