Here's the everyday picture a weekend of hot springs won't give you: getting around, the weather, what housing looks like, and a few things worth checking before you buy. Most people meet Oita over a weekend in Beppu or Yufuin and leave charmed by the baths. Living in Oita is a different question, and a fair one to ask before you buy. This is the day-to-day view from someone who does it: how you get around, what the weather does, what the housing actually looks like, and the

What akiya really costs, where the listings actually are, and the steps that take you from first search to keys in hand. What is an akiya An akiya is a vacant residential property. The word means "empty house" in Japanese, and in practice it covers everything from a tidy suburban home that has sat unoccupied for a year to a rural farmhouse left empty after the owner passed away. Japan's national housing survey counts vacant homes in the millions, driven by an aging population

What a registered seal is, when a signature affidavit replaces it, and what residents and non-residents each need to close If you have read that buying property in Japan requires a registered personal seal, the answer depends on where you live. The rules on an inkan to buy property in Japan split by residency: residents use an inkan and its registration certificate, while non-residents abroad cannot register one and use a notarized signature affidavit instead. This post sets

What buying a house actually requires when you live overseas, from residency status to keeping the property maintained after the keys change hands Buying a rural house in Japan is the part that most foreign buyers focus on. The harder part starts after the purchase: living there legally, paying taxes from another country, and keeping an empty building from falling apart while you are 9,000 kilometers away. Below is the document, residency, and contact list that decides whethe

What you keep paying after the purchase closes, plus the 2023 and 2026 rule changes that can raise the bill The purchase price is usually the smallest number in an akiya transaction. A house listed at one million yen, or at zero, still carries annual taxes, registration costs, and a maintenance obligation that does not pause when you fly home. The cost of owning an akiya covers the items that begin the day you take ownership, and two recent rule changes that can increase them

If you’ve spent any time looking at Japanese real estate online, you’ve probably seen them. Beautiful old houses in the countryside. Traditional wooden beams. Sliding doors. Maybe even an engawa looking out into a quiet garden. And then you see the price. $5,000.$10,000.Sometimes even less. At first, it almost feels fake. I understand the fascination because honestly, I’ve always been a real estate fanatic myself. Years ago, when I lived in California, I even got licensed jus