There are more than 8 million empty homes in rural Japan, and local governments are selling them for as little as $500 in a bid to lure residentsThe Japanese government is looking for people to occupy some 8 million empty homes.
Local authorities are giving away free houses and renovation subsidies to incentivize move-ins.
Some provinces even have "akiya banks," which are listings of vacant houses available for sale.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.There are millions of vacant homes in Japan, and some of them are being given away nearly for free. 

To find occupants for its millions of "akiya," or unoccupied homes, the Japanese government is enticing would-be homeowners with financial incentives like free properties and sizable renovation subsidies.

Japan's Housing and Land Survey, conducted every five years, logged a record high of 8.49 million akiya in Japan in 2018. Many of these homes were left empty after relatives died or when people moved away, the survey found. The 2018 survey found a 3.2% increase in the number of akiya compared to 2013.A property manager opens the window of a vacant traditional Japanese house in the city of Kamakura outside TokyoThe report also found 13.6% of Japan's 62.42 million homes were unoccupied. This was particularly pronounced in the prefectures of Wakayama, Tokushima, Kagoshima, and Kochi, all of which recorded home vacancy rates of more than 18%.The push to revitalize Japan's rural areas is a key part of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's socioeconomic plans for the country. Suga made rural revitalization a cornerstone of his policy when he took office in September, pledging in a November speech to stimulate the rural economy by boosting tourism and encouraging agricultural reform.

Free houses, anyone?An unoccupied property in Nagano, Japan. Nagano Akiya BankJapan is making it easy for interested parties to find these vacant homes.

Cities like Tochigi and Nagano have "akiya banks." These websites, developed by the city or municipal governments, list abandoned homes. Some of them are available for as little as 50,000 yen ($455).

The town of Okutama in western Tokyo even hands over aging and vacant buildings for free, per Nikkei. Some new residents have found creative ways to repurpose them, turning them into workshops and eateries.The program not only helps the old owners, who were struggling to utilize the properties and pay taxes, but also for the town by reducing the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse or otherwise pose risks in the future," a spokesman for the Okutama government office told Nikkei.

Some provincial governments have found that offering cash is one of the best ways to draw in remote workers.

Nikkei reported that Mikasa in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido recorded an 11% decrease in its number of empty homes when the city rolled out subsidies for child care and home purchases. Similarly, the town of Daisen in Tottori Prefecture saw a 7.9% drop in the number of empty properties when the local government offered 2 million yen ($18,229) grants to those who were renovating certain houses listed in its database.

In September, Nikkei reported on a program through which remote workers who maintain employment in Tokyo while working from the countryside will be given a 1 million yen ($9,114) cash grant. Meanwhile, those who set up IT businesses in rural Japan can apply for a grant of 3 million yen ($27,343).The problem of empty houses in rural areas is not unique to Japan.

As Insider's Taylor Borden and Libertina Brandt recently reported, cities and towns across the US are offering people thousands of dollars — and in some cases, free land — to relocate.

In Italy, the southern village of Cinquefrondi made the news when it started selling homes for 1 euro ($1.14) to increase the town's population. And the town of Locana in northern Italy offered the same deal but sweetened it by giving remote workers who have children a cash incentive of 9,000 euros ($10,971) to move there to fill its deserted homes.Rural Japanese homes are selling for $500 or less Get these $500 fixer-uppers — so long as you can read a Japanese construction manual.

Japan is riddled with millions of vacant homes, called akiya, that local governments hope will sell for next to nothing.

At last count, Japan’s Housing and Land survey found 8.49 million uninhabited dwellings in 2018 — a 3.2% increase in akiya since the previous survey interval in 2013.

All told, more than 13% of the country’s 62 million homes are unoccupied, especially in rural prefectures such as Wakayama, Tokushima, Kagoshima and Kochi. In these regions, the average rate of vacant homes is up to 18%.

Now, a new program led by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga means to stimulate Japan’s rural economy by encouraging tourism, business and a wave of new residents. This empty property in Tochigi, a prefecture north of Tokyo, is one of 8 million vacant houses that need occupants.
Tochigi Akiya
Online akiya “banks” have been set up by cities such as Tochigi and Nagano, where potential buyers can shop for abandoned homes listed for as little as 50,000 yen ($500). In Okutama, the price drops to $0. A vacant traditional Japanese house in the town of Kamakura outside Tokyo
REUTERS
“The program not only helps the old owners, who were struggling to utilize the properties and pay taxes, but also for the town by reducing the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse or otherwise pose risks in the future,” a spokesman for the Okutama government office told Nikkei, according to an Insider report.

In September, local governments offered to pay 1 million yen ($9,000) to any Tokyo-based workers who agree to work remote from the countryside. Itsukushima, Japan. To address a gap in tech services in the region, a bonus of 3 million yen ($27,000) is also being offered to anyone willing to set up an IT business in rural Japan. Such subsidies have already proven effective in Mikasa, in Hokkaido prefecture, where there’s been an 11% decrease in vacant homes since the city began offering cash for child care and home furnishing. Daisen, in Tottori prefecture, saw a 7.9% drop in vacancies after the local government promised 2 million yen ($18,000) toward home renovations for new buyers.

Similar trends have been seen around the globe, including the US, and in Italy, where dilapidated homes in medieval cities are known to go for as little as 1 euro ($1.22). You Can Buy A House In Japan For Less Than £350 Tokyo might be well known as one of the world’s busiest cities, but you don’t have to travel far before the streets really start to empty out.

In fact, there are so many empty homes in the country that many are being given away virtually for free.

The most recent survey of Japanese homes conducted by the country’s Housing and Land Survey in 2018 found that there were more than 8.49 million houses lying vacant in provinces across the country. That’s roughly 13% of the country’s total housing stock. Known as ‘akiya’, these houses are often in smaller towns and villages, and were either left empty after their previous owners passed away or abandoned by the growing number of families relocating to bigger cities.

Regardless of the reason, the number of these homes has shot up by 3.2% in just five years, creating a real problem for local authorities, some of whom are worried they could end up leading to accidental ghost towns if the growth continues. The report found that in some prefectures as many as 18% of houses lay empty.

According to Insider, in a bid to encourage people to buy up empty houses, local governments have created websites known as ‘akiya banks’, where a quick browse shows some of the houses are being listed for as little as 50,000 yen (£350).

One suburb near Tokyo has taken things even further, with the town of Okutama handed some of its older buildings over to new owners for free, allowing the new residents to turn them into workshops and businesses. Speaking to Nikkei, an Okutama government official said: he program not only helps the old owners, who were struggling to utilise the properties and pay taxes, but also for the town by reducing the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse or otherwise pose risks in the future.

Other places have taken a different approach, by offering grants or subsidies for Japanese citizens who move into their empty buildings. In Mikasa, Hokkaido prefecture, subsidies for home purchases – as well as childcare – resulted in an 11% decrease in the number of empty homes in the city, while Daisen, Tottori prefecture, recorded a 7.9% decrease after it began offering 2 million yen (£12,844) grants to home renovators.

There are often catches, with many of the low prices only available to Japanese residents, especially those with young families. But the country isn’t the only place where you can get on the property ladder at a surprisingly low cost.

Insider reports that there are thousands of cities across the US offering incentives and free land to get people to move there, and if Europe is more your style, the Italian town of Cinquefrondi made headlines last year after announcing it was giving away homes for just €1. Millions of ‘ghost homes’ sit empty in Japan. You can snag one for as little as $550
Small towns in Japan are ‘on the verge of collapse’ as their population ages and young people move to cities This empty, one-storey home in the city of Tochigi, north of Tokyo, is available for purchase. As of Tuesday afternoon, its listing price is 1.5 million Yen, or C$16,500. PHOTO BY VIA TOCHIGI AKIYA
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As millions of homes sit empty in rural Japan, local governments are attempting to attract new residents by giving the homes away for next to nothing — and, sometimes, for nothing at all. According to Insider, Japan’s Housing and Land survey logged a record high 8.49 million unoccupied homes, known as Akiya, in the country in 2018. Many of the homes have been left empty after the owners died or people simply moved away. 

In total, the survey found that 13.6 per cent of Japan’s 62.4 million homes were unoccupied, an increase of 3.2 per cent since 2013. 

The Japanese government is trying to lure people to take ownership of the abandoned homes through a host of incentives, including providing millions of yen in renovation grants, new zoning laws and rock-bottom prices. Cities such as Tochigi and Nagano have “akiya banks” — websites that are developed by municipal governments and list abandoned homes. According to Insider, some of the akiyas are available for as little as 50,000 yen or C$549. 

Making it even easier for people to get their hands on a vacant or “ghost home,” the town of Okutama (located in western Tokyo) is offering aging buildings for free, reported Nikkei. 

While the free buildings have deteriorated too much to be considered habitable, new owners of the properties have found innovative ways to repurpose them, renovating them into restaurants and ateliers. 

“The program not only helps the old owners, who were struggling to utilize the properties and pay taxes, but also for the town by reducing the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse or otherwise pose risks in the future,” a spokesperson for the Okutama government told the outlet.
Meanwhile, some governments have found that offering cash is an easy way to attract residents. 

As Nikkei reported, the city of Mikasa, located on Japan’s second-largest island Hokkaido, recorded an 11 per cent decrease in unoccupied, unlisted homes after it rolled out generous subsidies for child care and home purchases, as well as incentives for long-distance commuters. Overgrown vegetation surrounds a vacant house in the Yato area of Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 2013. More than 50 houses and apartments, almost 20 percent of the quaint residential neighbourhood, were empty that year. PHOTO BY AKIO KON /Bloomberg
For decades, Japanese citizens have been “fleeing” rural villages and towns in favour of urban regions, according to The Atlantic. This means that small towns are “on the verge of collapse,” as their population ages and young people continue to move to cities. 

As the outlet reports, only 53 per cent of the country’s population lived in urban regions in 1950. In 2014, 93 per cent lived in such areas. Japan also has a much higher percentage of empty homes than many other countries. In 2018, 13 per cent of homes were vacant, compared to 8.3 per cent in France, 6.7 per cent in South Korea and 2.5 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to Nikkei. 

The country’s attempt to lure new residents to rural areas with cheap prices is a part of a much larger trend across the globe, including in the United States and Italy. 

Last year, dilapidated homes in Cinquefrondi, a community in Calabria, southwest Italy, put homes on the market for a single Euro. The so-called “Operation Beauty” was meant to reverse a trend of depopulation, as younger Italians moved out of the area in search of work, said CNN. 

This year, another Italian town, Castiglione di Sicilia, on the island of Sicily, also offered abandoned, ruined homes for a single Euro. Rural Japanese homes are selling for $500 or less
Japan is riddled with millions of vacant homes, called akiya, that local governments hope will sell for next to nothing. Japan is riddled with millions of vacant homes, called akiya, that local governments hope will sell for next to nothing. At last count, Japan’s Housing and Land survey found 8.49 million uninhabited dwellings in 2018 — a 3.2% increase in akiya since the previous survey interval in 2013.

All told, more than 13% of the country’s 62 million homes are unoccupied, especially in rural prefectures such as Wakayama, Tokushima, Kagoshima and Kochi. In these regions, the average rate of vacant homes is up to 18%. Now, a new program led by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga means to stimulate Japan’s rural economy by encouraging tourism, business and a wave of new residents. Pedestrians walk past a house in Gojome, Akita Prefecture, Japan, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. (Getty Images)

Online akiya "banks" have been set up by cities such as Tochigi and Nagano, where potential buyers can shop for abandoned homes listed for as little as 50,000 yen ($500). In Okutama, the price drops to $0.

"The program not only helps the old owners, who were struggling to utilize the properties and pay taxes, but also for the town by reducing the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse or otherwise pose risks in the future," a spokesman for the Okutama government office told Nikkei, according to an Insider report.

In September, local governments offered to pay 1 million yen ($9,000) to any Tokyo-based workers who agree to work remote from the countryside.

To address a gap in tech services in the region, a bonus of 3 million yen ($27,000) is also being offered to anyone willing to set up an IT business in rural Japan. Such subsidies have already proven effective in Mikasa, in Hokkaido prefecture, where there’s been an 11% decrease in vacant homes since the city began offering cash for child care and home furnishing. Daisen, in Tottori prefecture, saw a 7.9% drop in vacancies after the local government promised 2 million yen ($18,000) toward home renovations for new buyers.

Similar trends have been seen around the globe, including the US, and in Italy, where dilapidated homes in medieval cities are known to go for as little as 1 euro ($1.22). Got $500 to Spare? You Can Buy a House in Japan
In Nagano, $460 can get you seven rooms, a spacious garden, and a view of rice fields. HOMES IN NAGANO CITY GO FOR AS LOW AS $460. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NAGANO CITY AKIYA BANK
Sick of the city life? Resent your fourth floor walk-up? Share a washing machine with a neighbor who keeps leaving socks behind? Japan may have a solution for you.

In the Japanese countryside, bargain homes are going for as little as $460, prices made possible in part by local governments eager to fill empty buildings as the country’s population rapidly shrinks. To attract residents to their dwindling communities, local authorities have in recent years spent millions in renovation grants, as well as relaxing zoning restrictions and sometimes even giving away old buildings for free. And as the coronavirus pandemic has created more remote jobs and prompted many to relocate, spacious country homes could look even more attractive than tiny apartments in the city.

“We’ve actually had a few interested foreigners buying akiya (abandoned homes),” said Kenji Nishimaki, an emigration and settlement counselor at Nagano city hall, one of the city governments offering subsidies for people buying an akiya. A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE HOME SELLING FOR 65,000 YEN ($592) IN NAGANO CITY. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NAGANO CITY AKIYA BANK

According to government statistics, 361,091 Japanese people left the greater Tokyo area for the suburbs last year, a 2.56 percent rise compared to 2019.

Nishimaki said that Nagano’s relative proximity to Tokyo makes it a great place to live. “It’s both the city and the countryside. There’s a shinkansen (bullet train) that runs through the city, and it takes about an hour and a half to get to Tokyo,” Nishimaki told VICE World News. “We also have beautiful nature.”

According to 2018 data from the Japan Housing and Land Survey, there were over 8 million akiya in the country, a 3.2 percent increase since 2013.

Most of these homes were abandoned after their owners died, or when residents moved away. With Japan’s declining population and continuing urban migration, more homes in rural areas are being left deserted. 

To help sell the glut of empty homes, the Nagano city government has even created an “akiya bank” website, with the catchphrase “Let’s live in Nagano!” Launched five years ago, the website lists abandoned homes and different financial support offered by the government to encourage potential buyers to make their move. The city government can provide up to 500,000 yen ($4,555) for renovating homes in the metropolitan part of town, or up to 1 million yen ($9,110) to fix up a house in the suburbs. 

One home listed for 80,000 yen ($729) on Nagano city’s “akiya bank” is a spacious traditional Japanese-style home, with eight rooms, a recently renovated bathroom, and a balcony view of Nagano’s luscious mountains. THE VIEW FROM ONE OF NAGOYA'S AKIYAS. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NAGANO CITY AKIYA BANK

A 50,000 yen ($455) home with seven rooms comes with a spacious garden. The home is situated near rice fields, a view that can be enjoyed from its sunny southern-facing rooms, completed with a spacious Japanese-style bathroom.

Selling empty homes in rural towns has been a growing trend in nations with aging populations. 

In 2008, the Italian town of Salemi in Sicily started selling dilapidated homes for 1 euro ($1.22). The mayor at the time, Vittorio Sgarbi, thought cheap real estate could be a way to revive the emptying town. Earlier this year, the southeastern Italian city of Biccari joined the 1 euro homes trend to combat dwindling populations. It’s also selling fully-renovated homes for as low as 7,500 euros. According to the city mayor Gianfilippo Mignogna, the city has fewer than 2,000 residents and “depopulation is an open wound,” he told CNN. Homes in the Japanese countryside are selling for as little as $500 Japan is hoping to tackle its vacant home problem by listing its rural properties for sale – at rock bottom prices.

There are an estimated eight million unoccupied houses in the country – known as akiya – and the figure has only grown in recent years. It’s a particular problem for Japan’s rural prefectures, which are seeing the biggest rise in empty properties. Osaka akiya; only the original gatehouse remains on this rural plot of land, for sale for 500m yen. Via Akiya-athome.com
A new government-led programme is aiming to get new owners inside these abandoned homes, by offering them at hugely reduced prices and with renovation subsidies for their revival and adaptive reuse. In Okutama, which is located west of Tokyo, the price tag drops to zero for its dilapidated homes. Vacant akiya in Hirado City, Nagasaki prefecture for sale for 13m yen.Via Akiya-athome.com
Interested buyers can browse ‘akiya banks’ (like this one) which list available abandoned houses for sale. And for anyone headquartered in Tokyo, a separate programme is offering a cash grant to workers to encourage remote working in the countryside. Japan is trying to lure people into rural areas by selling $500 homes, but it's not enough to fix the country's 'ghost town' problem. View of farmland in Wakayama, Japan, where more than 18% of homes are abandoned. Uchiyama Seichi began re-evaluating his life in 2011.

In March of that year, the Tohoku Earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people. The death and destruction forced Uchiyama, who was born in the Greater Tokyo area, to consider his own legacy.

"I thought, what could I leave behind, and what example could I be to my children … if I can't say I lived a fulfilling and enjoyable existence?" Uchiyama told Insider.

Five years later, Uchiyama and his wife packed up their lives in the Tokyo area. Their destination lay nine hours south in the mountainous prefecture of Wakayama. There, he and his family settled into an akiya — an abandoned home — in the countryside.

"The akiya at the beginning of the move looked a little bit like a haunted house," Uchiyama, now in his mid-40s, admitted (he declined to share how much they bought it for). "But we changed the flooring, repaired the roof, and made the renovation a family project."

The family spent one year and one million yen (roughly $9,000) renovating the house; they now run an organic farm, cafe, and guest house out of the property. The facade of Seichi's farmhouse after renovation. While the US faces a shortage of homes, Japan is experiencing an altogether different issue: There's a glut of unoccupied homes throughout the country's rural areas. Japan's Housing and Land Survey, conducted every five years, logged a record high of 8.49 million akiya in 2018.

These abandoned houses have created "ghost villages" in Japan's rural prefectures where homes can neither be filled nor knocked down. In some areas, nearly one out of every five homes is empty. The government is offering incentives like $500 homes and tax breaks to entice residents to move from urban centers into rural areas like Wakayama, but cheap housing may not be enough to bridge the cultural divide and the bureaucratic difficulties that moving to a small town create.

While COVID-19 gave many workers the option of working in big cities like Tokyo without actually living there, Chris McMorran, an associate professor in the department of Japanese studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), offers a bleak outlook for rural communities. He told Insider that young people are hesitant to move to countryside homes because of limited opportunities — and because of the akiya themselves. "The fact that there are so many empty houses is a blight on the landscape, and a further deterrent, because people don't want to live in a terminal village surrounded by 'ghost houses,'" McMorran said.

It's also, he said, linked to the birthrate in Japan, which has been on a downward trend since the 1970s.

"This will only get worse," McMorran said, "because the core of the problem is there aren't enough people to go around in Japan." One airport, four universities, and a whole lot of empty houses: This, at a glance, is Wakayama.

The prefecture of 934,000 people (as of the 2018 census) lies on the rugged southeastern coast of Japan. Wakayama City – the prefecture's biggest city and home to about 40% of its total population — is about an hour and 15 minutes from Osaka.

The area has been described both as Japan's spiritual heartland and its fruit kingdom. Among its biggest draws for tourists are the hot springs, the giant pandas at the Wakayama City Zoo, and the thousand-year-old Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Route, which winds through 43 miles of mountains, forests, and coastlines.

For some, like Uchiyama, the land is the appeal.

"The idea of pursuing agriculture, and having a more grounded existence appealed to me," Uchiyama said. "I thought of Wakayama's abundant nature, seas, mountains, and rivers. I guess I thought it would be a gorgeous place for kids to grow up." Uchiyama Seichi and his wife in front of their countryside home, where they now run a farm and a cafe. But to the vast majority of people Insider spoke to for this story, the prefecture is known first and foremost for something else: just how rural it is. Wakayama City is the only city in the prefecture with a population that exceeds 65,000.

"When driving, it is not uncommon for a troop of monkeys and badgers to cross the road even during the day," said Yamamoto Reiko, 39, who works in imports and moved to Wakayama from New York City. "Now I'm used to such a scene, but at first I was surprised."

The monkeys and badgers may feel comfortable crossing the road because of the relative lack of humans in the area. The prefecture's population has been steadily on the decline since 1996. 

Richard Koo, chief economist at Japan's Nomura Research Institute (NRI), told Insider that 30 years ago, there was a lot of economic activity — mostly factories — in the Japanese countryside. But the Japanese yen kept rising until it hit a high in April 1995, which started hollowing out the countryside and creating a rust belt area that he likened to Ohio's.

The rural-urban migration trend stretches back decades before that, said Tsutsui Kazunobu, professor of regional studies at Japan's Tottori University. In 1960, there was an average of 39 households per rural community in Japan. By 2015, Tsutsui said, that number had fallen to just 15.

Nearly all of Wakayama's 30 towns, cities, and villages have seen their populations decrease between 1995 and 2020, according to the government's official census, which is conducted every five years. Of Japan's 47 prefectures, 37 recorded smaller populations in the 2018 census than they did in 1995. Notably, the prefectures that are home to Japan's three biggest cities (Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka) each saw a population increase in this same period.

Japan now lays claim to the highest vacancy rates of the 37 countries surveyed in a May report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Nationally, it has a 14% vacancy rate.

In rural areas, that number spikes to 16%, and it's even higher in some prefectures. Four Japanese prefectures — Kochi, Kagoshima, and Tokushima among them — recorded vacancy rates above 18% in Japan's 2018 Housing and Land survey. Wakayama led the list with 18.8% vacancy. Wakayama City – the prefecture's biggest city and home to about 40% of its total population — is about an hour and 15 minutes from Osaka. The imbalance between rural and urban Japan has been recognized by both national and municipal governments as far back as the 1970s.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga made rural revitalization a cornerstone of his platform when he took office in September. He has pledged to stimulate the rural economy and refocus the government's efforts beyond just the Tokyo metropolitan area.

"Through tourism and agricultural reforms, we will create a flow of people to rural areas, increase local incomes, revitalize rural areas, and boost the Japanese economy," said Suga in a speech to the Japanese parliament in October. 

On the regional level, some governments are now making it as easy as possible for newcomers to buy homes in rural areas by dangling financial carrots. These range from renovation subsidies to cover the cost of remodeling an abandoned house to tax relief measures under which akiya buyers pay one-sixth of the city's annual property tax.

Others are launching akiya banks — websites that list abandoned homes for as little as 50,000 yen ($455).

Tokai Chizuru found her akiya in Wakayama in 2014. After living in Osaka with her husband Shinya for three years, Tokai wanted a simpler lifestyle and found a quaint property in rural Wakayama. Tokai Chizuru and her husband (L) and an exterior shot of their farmhouse they bought in Wakayama. An interior shot of the Tokai farmhouse. The couple moved into an old property in Irokawa village, some three hours from the nearest city. It took them eight months to clean up the house and 1.5 million yen ($12,500) to make the property inhabitable.

"We preserved most of the original structure," Tokai said, adding that most of the work centered around turning the abandoned paddy fields surrounding the house into fertile land to grow their own crops. "In the springtime, we make tea and pick it ourselves. Sometimes, we make processed products from plums and yuzu we grow. We have started rearing some chickens, too," Tokai said. "I greatly enjoy the peace, quiet, and tradition of this area." An aerial view of Chizuru Tokai's farmhouse. Furukawa Ryuji, the chief of the Wakayama prefectural planning department, which is in charge of promoting emigration and settlement, told Insider the prefecture launched its akiya bank in 2015. Their goal, he said, is "to solve various problems such as population decline, low birth rate, and an aging population, and to maintain the vitality and vibrancy of our community and the larger region."

Since inception, it's seen around 600 listings, 200 of which have been matched with new owners, Furukawa said, noting that properties in good condition tend to go first. The akiya bank currently has about 110 properties listed, ranging from a dilapidated $800 home that has a caved-in roof and a missing front door to a $45,000, eight-bedroom property that's being sold with the surrounding farmland.

Space to build
Furukawa said private real estate agencies also handle some listings. Other newcomers to the akiya scene have inherited their homes.

Nomura Yuichi and his wife Seiko, who are both in their mid-30s, moved from Okinawa to Seiko's hometown of Wakayama in 2011. Five years later, they moved into an abandoned home previously owned by Seiko's family. The couple invested three million yen ($37,000) into renovating the shop and the apartment above it — refitting the electrical systems, redoing the flooring, and redesigning the facade. 

"We tried to keep quite a lot of the original structure. We bought red roof tiles for the facade, and used part of the original concrete to form the shape of turtle designs on the floor," Nomura said. 

Now, Nomura and his family live and work out of the Jimamaya bakery, selling custard buns and danishes made from local ingredients out the door. 

"I've always had a dream of owning my own bakery, and making bread by hand instead of mass-producing it," Nomura said. "I have achieved that dream now." Renovation images from Nomura Yuichi show the process of painting the floor and walls (L); and the final product (R). Nomura Yuichi and his wife smiling in front of the bakery they run in Wakayama. Nomura is not alone among the Wakayama transplants Insider spoke to who say the move afforded them the opportunity to launch small businesses on the cheap.

Sakurai Yasunori, who is in his early 50s, spotted a business opportunity in an abandoned building near his office in Wakayama. In 2012, he invested one million yen ($12,100) into renovating the akiya, which he lives in and rents out as a guest house for travelers trekking the Kumano Kodo walking trail that winds through the prefecture.

Meanwhile, Hayashi Noriaki, a 30-something businessman, turned a Wakayama akiya into a movie-theater-cum-bookstore, investing six million yen ($72,800) and four years into the process. Hayashi Noriaki turned a Wakayama akiya into a movie-theater-cum-bookstore. A "before" shot (L) shows a facade completely overgrown with ivy; "after" (R) reveals updated white siding. Still, the experts Insider spoke to said barriers abound to countryside life in general and to akiya living specifically.

"There's still a resistance to repopulate the countryside because there are areas that are rural-rural — like Wakayama," said McMorran, the NUS professor. "The lack of accessibility to basic amenities like hospitals and convenience stores puts people off."

Yamamoto, the imports expert who moved to Wakayama from NYC, told Insider the infrastructure for remote work is lacking. Her husband, an iOS developer, couldn't find work in the prefecture and had to move to Tokyo to get a job.

For many of those who do want to move to the countryside, buying a pre-owned home is unappealing.

"The Japanese definitely like to have their own house — preferably a newly built house," said Koo, the NRI economist. "In the United States, if you buy a house, chances are it's pre-owned," said Koo. "But here, the market for pre-owned houses is a fraction of the market for newly built houses."

In the US, HGTV reigns supreme and it's a certain badge of honor to buy an old home and bootstrap its way into becoming your dream home. But there isn't a strong DIY renovation culture in Japan, which might otherwise entice would-be homeowners to buy a rundown property, said Douglas Southerland, the senior economist responsible for OECD monitoring of the Japanese economy.

It's not just about personal and cultural preferences — it's also about safety. The first Building Standard Law in Japan was introduced in 1950. Since then, it has been amended at least five times to make older buildings sturdier so they can withstand damage from earthquakes. Many akiya were built before a 1981 amendment to the law was introduced, which means they are considered structurally fragile.

"Land without anything on it has a higher value than land with a preowned house on it," Koo said, adding that once a home is more than 10 or 15 years old, its value is "worse than nothing" because of the cost of tearing the home down. Iwade-shi, a city in Wakayama, photographed with a drone from the sky. So, seemingly, the solution would be to demolish and build new homes on the land — but it's hard for the government to knock down homes (even abandoned ones) because of Japan's sticky property rights laws.

Before 2015, said McMorran, the Japanese government did not have the right to contact an owner and order them to patch up a dilapidated or abandoned home. In rural areas, he went on, there's a multi-generational attachment to a home or a piece of land that makes it difficult for the state to step in.

Koo described the Japanese akiya essentially as being homes in limbo: The person who owns it doesn't want it or can't be contacted, but the government can't take ownership of it, and so it sits there, abandoned.

"It's an enormous effort to trace down who the house belongs to, so most of the time, the government just gives up," Koo said. "So the akiya sits there for years with the government unable even to take it down."

And on top of all the economic, financial, and cultural barriers to entry, there's an extra societal barrier to account for too, Koo said.

"The countryside of Japan is a very, very closed society," Koo said. "If you're a foreigner or just not from that area and you try to enter that society, it takes a long time — years, even decades — before they'll accept you as one of them," Koo said.

"There's a job problem because the jobs in those regions are gone," said Koo, "and there's an exclusionary attitude." Wakayama is only a microcosm of the bigger population shifts happening across Japan and around the world. 

Some towns in Italy have famously been selling homes for as little as $1 — or even giving them away for free — in a desperate repopulation bid. Similarly, towns across the US, many of them in rural middle America, are offering cash rewards as large as $10,000 to people who move there.

The akiya banks are also not the only solution being presented to Japan's vacancy problem. Legal reform around property rights is one change at play, said Koo: "The government is trying to make it easier now to take over houses that no one came back for, and take over the land and redevelop the real estate." The Tokai's rice paddy fields. And COVID-19 may be bringing about changes to the way people view the interplay between work and life. Furukawa, the head of Wakayama's akiya bank, noted that interest in Wakayama has increased during the pandemic.

"Teleworking is possible now, and side businesses are becoming more 'trendy.' Living and working in an akiya can address these trends," he said. But the reality that the majority of the economists and academics Insider spoke to points back to a future in which these homes will remain empty. Koo said the pandemic has had a crippling effect on the tourism sector of Suga's rural revitalization plan, which he described as "one of the few truly bright spots in the Japanese economy for the past five to 10 years."

McMorran, the NUS professor, went so far as to describe the repopulation situation — and, by extension, the filling of akiya — as a zero-sum game in which prefectures compete with each other for the limited population that remains in rural areas.

"There may be a handful of 'winning prefectures' in the race to revitalize," McMorran said. "But there will also be so many more losers." Homes in certain communities such as Wakayama prefecture, whose eponymous regional capital sits about an hour and 15 minutes from Osaka, are as low as 50,000 yen (about $455). In Japan, a Countryside Home Could Be Yours for Under $500
The empty akiya frequently found in rural communities are priced to move, but some factors still stand in the way of Japan’s plan to reverse its population’s rural flight. Since COVID-19 forced Americans to reconsider where and how they live, the U.S. housing market is so hot that it’s leaving would-be buyers outbid and burnt out. Meanwhile, in Japan, all it takes to buy a home is roughly $500—and a willingness to live in a “ghost village.”

The phrase refers not to any supernatural phenomena but the fact that Japan’s decades-long trend of negative population growth coupled with an exodus to urban areas has resulted in roughly 8.49 million akiya (unoccupied homes) according to the country’s most recent Housing and Land Survey from 2018. Tsutsui Kazunobu, a professor of regional studies at Tottori University, told Insider that the number of households per rural community stood at 39 in 1960 but fell to 15 by 2015, and a May 2021 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pegs Japan’s nationwide rural vacancy rate at about 16%. Those statistics explain why Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga entered office in September 2020 with a mandate to focus on bridging the urban-rural divide. Subsequently, local governments are pulling out all the stops to incentivize the kind of rural homeownership and repopulation that can, in turn, fuel economic revitalization. Those offers include renovation subsidies for those who remodel and move into a spruced-up akiya, along with steep property tax discounts for akiya buyers.

But perhaps no offer is as enticing as the “akiya banks.” They aren’t actual banks but are websites that basically function as a Zillow for cheap, abandoned homes in certain communities such as Wakayama prefecture, whose eponymous regional capital sits about an hour and 15 minutes from Osaka. About 200 of the 600 listings on Wakayama’s akiya bank since its 2015 launch have found new occupants, with current prices coming in at about $800 on the low end. At other akiya banks, prices as low as 50,000 yen (about $455) aren’t unheard of. While the homes in certain Japanese regions are extremely cheap, there are a few hurdles that have kept buyers from completely embracing the akiya. Though you’d think teleworking Japanese professionals would jump at the chance to buy a fixer-upper for less than Tokyo’s median monthly rent, there are a few hurdles that have kept buyers from completely embracing the akiya. Douglas Sutherland, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s senior economist for Japan, told Insider that there’s generally less interest in DIY home renovations in Japan than there is in the U.S., which could contribute to an environment where most akiya appear to be more trouble than they’re worth.

While foreigners aren’t excluded from buying akiya, there are a number of hoops to jump through that make owning one expensive if not impossible. Beyond renovation costs, a 1981 update to Japan’s Building Standard Law also means these homes are considered fragile enough to require structural work to bring them up to code. Furthermore, property rights make it almost impossible for people to knock down these akiya and start fresh without approval from their (technical) homeowners, despite the fact that they want little to do with the property. Thus, the unwanted homes persist, stuck between renovation and demolition.

Despite those hurdles, the idea of buying a home and/or starting a business for such a low price has proved too good to pass up for some. With top-level buy-in from the government, there’s always the chance that some of the legal obstacles to increasing rural homeownership could fall by the wayside. For now, though, many Japanese urbanites seem to feel that if a $500 home sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You could buy an empty house in Japan for as little as $500
Some local authorities are even giving properties away for free to solve their empty house – or ‘akiya’ – problem. Struggling to get on the property ladder? In search of adventure after months locked down in your poky little flat? Here’s a solution for you: move to Japan!

It may come as a surprise given the population density of the country as a whole, but Japan has a real problem with abandoned houses, which is great news for prospective homeowners. In a bid to fill some of these empty abodes – known as akiya – local authorities are offering people the chance to snap up a house for as little as $500 (£362). Some are even giving properties away for free, offering renovation grants or subsidising childcare for young families who move into the area.

And to help prospective buyers to find the perfect property, many have also set up online ‘akiya banks’, databases that list all of the abandoned houses available in an area. 

Conducted every five years, Japan’s most recent Housing and Land Survey in 2018 recorded a massive 8.49 million empty homes across the country – or 13.6 percent of the total housing stock.

The country’s ageing population is largely to blame. Many houses are being left empty as older inhabitants move into care homes or pass away, with fewer young people to take them on afterwards. 

The issue is particularly pronounced in the prefectures of Wakayama, Tokushima, Kagoshima and Kochi, where home vacancy rates are all above 18 percent. And it’s not just rural areas where the properties can be found, with plenty of empty houses available on the outskirts of major cities including Tokyo and Osaka too.

Already researching overseas removal companies? There a dozens of websites and blogs that collate the various akiya banks and offer advice on relocating. You might need to brush up on your Japanese first, though! Want to Live in an Abandoned House in Japan? Here’s Why it’s Not Really ‘Free’
What you need to know about akiya homes in Japan. You may have seen some viral headlines over the years about “free” or cheap abandoned properties available in Japan. 

Everyone from CNBC to CNN has talked about it. While Japan’s government is trying to entice new residents with cheap or even free property, it’s not as simple as walking up to an abandoned home and claiming it for yourself. 

Realistically speaking, these homes aren’t 100% free. They require renovation, investment and come with strict terms and conditions to make the home livable—the kinds of T&Cs that should make any potential buyer reconsider before affixing their seal or signature.

What are akiya? Obama’s largely abandoned village of Kaminegori is now a hiker’s retreat. In Japanese,  空あき家や (akiya) are houses that are abandoned or unoccupied. Thanks partly to Japan’s aging population and preference for new homes over old ones, there are now simply too many disused homes in the country. 

There are 62.4 million homes in Japan. In 2018, Japan’s Housing and Land Survey, which conducts a survey every five years, found a record-high 8.49 million homes to be unoccupied. Even in Tokyo, one in every ten home s is abandoned. Most akiya are located far away from major cities where a good portion of jobs are found.

And it’s only going to get worse. According to the Nomura Research Institute, it’s estimated that one-third of all homes in Japan will be vacant or abandoned by 2030.

It’s thought that 900 small towns will no longer exist by 2040, so the government hopes that the akiya (or the Special Measures Act on Promotion of Measures on Vacant Houses—more on that later) will revive these threatened areas.

Why are there so many abandoned houses? An abandoned property in downtown Arakawa, Tokyo. There are numerous and complicated reasons why Japanese homes became vacant. The most obvious is the declining birthrate and an aging population, but another reason is location.

Most akiya are located far away from major cities where a good portion of jobs are found. Millions of vacant homes are spread throughout Japan, but the rural prefectures of Kagoshima, Kochi, Tokushima and Wakayama have the most. 

Buyers must be willing to live in the house despite the town’s low population and little financial potential since the point of this program is to repopulate dying towns. 

Even if the abandoned house was in good shape, younger families often don’t want to relocate to a town that may not exist shortly after moving in or have no sustainable development. You might have to drive hours to your job in the nearest city, work from home or start your own business in your new little neighborhood.

Taxes and ownership
Money is also a factor in why these houses are abandoned. The younger generation often leaves them because they don’t want to pay the high property tax. Therefore, the main driver of the akiya problem is that the actual owner does not want to admit ownership because of the tax liability.

Thus, another big reason people don’t buy akiya is that it is complicated to check the title (ownership) of akiya. If you cannot find the property owner, that presents a genuine difficulty in changing ownership to your name.

After a while, the value decreases due to risks including fire hazards, termites, hygiene problems and property decline. These factors overall lower the property’s value and deter new buyers from investing in the house.

Can a foreigner buy akiya? An akiya in Osaka.
First of all, don’t consider an akiya your fast track to living in Japan. Buying a property in Japan, abandoned or otherwise, does not grant you automatic residence status. And while a foreigner can buy one of these homes, there are restrictions to keep in mind.

For example, some contracts to purchase an akiya require the buyer to live in the house permanently. You must make sure this clause is not in your contract because it could go against restrictions on your current visa.

The cost of renovating and repairing the house could equate to the cost of buying a new home.

Next, many of these available homes can’t be purchased at first but are instead rented out. So, for example, an akiya might be listed at just ¥35,000 per month, but tenants must live in the house faithfully. Eventually, the land and home title will be transferred to the renters, but it might not be for 20 years or more.

In Tokyo, there are sometimes specific requirements to rent akiya that favor younger families. For example, rent will be reduced by ¥5,000 per child. Other restrictions include that the renter must:

Be under 43 years old
Be a younger, married couple (only sometimes)
Have children under middle/junior high school age
Buying an akiya on farmland
If the property comes with farmland, you better want to be a farmer, because a typical stipulation is you have to be a farmer. Potential buyers need approval from the local nogyo-iinkai (agricultural committee) since the buyer will have to engage in full-time farming (not as a hobby).

Yamamoto Property Advisory, who helps foreigners buy homes, says you can temporarily register to preserve your title rights and this can postpone farming on your land. When that expires, you’ll be expected to eventually utilize the farmland.

As an alternative, owners can rent out the land for other farmers to use instead. If you don’t like any of these options, perhaps it’s best to find a different akiya without farmland.

Renovations and hidden fees. You’ll need to put a lot of time and money into some akiya.
Be prepared to pay other fees that could include administrative and management costs, registration and license tax, agent commission and other taxes such as acquisition and property tax. Of course, it varies based on the property, but as an example, these fees could cost more than ¥400,000.

Most akiya are in very poor condition to the point where renovating and repairing the house could equate to the cost of buying a new home. Sometimes the government can assist by providing up to ¥200,000 if renovating the house benefits the community, but eligibility requirements depend on the prefecture. Otherwise, fixing up the house could cost thousands of more dollars.

Check out listings on akiya banks. A before and after shot of an akiya home in Japan.
Abandoned houses are listed on “akiya bank” websites, which list properties for sale at a low rate. However, please note that there are still conditions that must be met that require effort and money put into the house before it is even livable.

The listings are in Japanese. Most property details aren’t available online. You’d have to see the akiya in person to see the actual condition of the property:

Homes
AtHome
Suumo
There are also websites and blogs promoting rural life and akiya homes in all prefectures:

Inakanet
Inakakurashi
Furusato-net
Inakanoseikatsu
Mjna50