Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans work on renovating their Akiya in Japan. Courtesy of Take Kurosawa.
There are more than eight million abandoned houses in Japan, with no restrictions on foreign buyers.
Many people from abroad buy such houses and renovate them inexpensively. This way they avoid expensive properties in other countries.
Unlike other countries, home ownership in Japan is not always seen as a path to financial freedom.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by an editor.
Take Kurosawa, who spent summers in Japan as a child and always dreamed of owning a property there, found a like-minded person in Joey Stockermans.
They spent 38,600 euros on an abandoned house in the country. Such a property is known as Akiya in Japan. They planned to renovate the space and use it as an Airbnb and personal retreat.
Kurosawa, 33, and Stockermans, 35, pooled their money and bought the abandoned one last June 93 square meter house in Beppu, a city of 113,000 inhabitants on Kyushu, the southernmost of the main Japanese islands.
A renovated room in Kurosawa and Stockermans’ house. Courtesy of Take Kurosawa.
Currently, Kurosawa lives in an RV in Santa Cruz, California, and Stockermans lives with his parents in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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US citizens are turning to international markets
Many Americans are turning to markets around the world, from Italy to Portugal, where affordable homes are available. Buying property in more expensive areas – especially California – is unrealistic for many Americans. There is also a growing desire to lead a more adventurous life or to escape the problems that plague their home countries.
In Japan, the country’s shrinking population resulted in a record 8.49 million Akiya in 2018, according to a Japanese government survey showed. The many abandoned Akiya pose a problem because they create many “ghost villages” – but they are also an opportunity for prospective buyers. In addition, in Japan, unlike other countries, no restrictions on the acquisition of real estate by foreigners.
“It’s a perfect storm,” Kurosawa said.
Joey Stockermans in his Akiya. Courtesy of Take Kurosawa.
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Who are the people who buy an Akiya?
Kurosawa and Stockermans started in January Akiyamart, a website that helps foreigners find and buy abandoned houses in Japan. It’s just the latest tool to help people navigate a foreign market, although many have made the jump without it.
Eric McAskill, a 38-year-old Canadian who previously lived in Bali with his family, bought an Akiya in Nagano Prefecture in 2021 for 22,200 euros. The purchase was in pursuit of his lifelong dream of renovating a house in the Japanese countryside, he told Business Insider US in September. McAskill and his family plan to move fully into the house after the renovation.
Jaya Thursfield, 46, and his wife Chihiro bought an abandoned farmhouse in Ibaraki Prefecture in 2019 for 23,500 euros, with plans to renovate it into their dream family home. They wanted a large property at an affordable price, something they thought they couldn’t get in London, they told Business Insider in 2021.
An exterior view of the renovated Akiya that Eric McAskill purchased. Eric McAskill
Anton Wormann, a 30-year-old Swedish model, took things a step further by buying and renovating properties in Japan. He began renovating houses exclusively for Airbnb in 2022. This is a business idea that works well in the US, but it’s not necessarily a surefire way to make an income in Japan.
“Moving from America to Japan brings with it a completely different culture. It’s a different real estate market,” Bethany “Bitsii” Nakamura told Business Insider last July. Bitsii has left the US to live in an Akiya in Japan that she got for free. She said home ownership in Japan is “not necessarily the path to financial freedom.”
She added: “In America, homeownership is viewed as a ticket to long-term stability, but not here.”
An exterior view of Nakamura’s house. Bethany Nakamura
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While it would be nice for Kurosawa and Stockermans to make money from their property, that wasn’t the reason they bought it or founded Akiyamart. Her goal was to spend more time in Japan and show foreigners that there are low barriers to entry into home ownership in Japan.
“I have so many friends my age who are frustrated because they can’t buy a house,” Kurosawa said. “It’s kind of a sign to my generation: ‘Hey, there’s another alternative’ – unfortunately not in America, but it’s a really comfortable place to live and raise a family and enjoy a very high quality of life without the financial burdens of living in the United States.”
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