The Japanese government and culture hates foreigner. Unless you or your parents have Japanese citizenship, you're going to have a hard time.
My experience as a tourist with Japanese friends...
Foreigners (like me) have a chip on our shoulders. That whole attitude of "Well guess they don't want my money" isn't really big there. Outside of Tokyo, foreigners get kicked out of places all the time. Often it's done politely to avoid embarrassment.
And a foreigner swinging around cash going, "Why can't I buy this" will quickly get a polite "It is not our way as Japanese", which really means "fuck off".
I'm an atheist, ghosts scare me about as much as gods do. I would use the money I spend on rent now to build a geodesic dome house. They are easy to build. Put some solar panels on it and get grid electricity for backup. If there's a house, there is probably a well on the property already. I have permanent residency in Japan. I don't care if the neighbors are racist assholes. I don't interact with my neighbors in Tokyo; I wouldn't interact with the neighbors there either. Where can I find more houses like this? I want one.
https://www.akiya-mart.com/explore
Let us know if you end up doing something like this, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in how it turns out.
Because you have to pay taxes including the very incredibly expensive purchase tax and annual property tax. And you lack a visa.
Because Japanese visa will never allow for you to live there
You can get 180 days total per year in two sets of 90 so to live in this house you'd have to:
- live there for 3 months
- leave Japan
- live there for 3 more months
- leave Japan for 6 months and have someone look after your house.
This is no way sustainable not to mention as a tourist you wouldn't have access to anything that requires full residency which is very complicated.
You can get long term visa like education or business investment or work permit etc but those are really expensive and can be very hard to get.
If you think it's a good deal, You could've bought one in Detroit for $1
Well spank my monkey.
There's a 4bd, 2bath with 2500sqft for nearing the price of the shed in Ops picture. https://www.zillow.com/detroit-mi/under-10000
That's a 3.5k shed with no utilities is probably why. Running power, gas and plumbing to that place would cost more than a town of houses.
A lot of homeless people would love for there to be more "sheds" on the market. US citizens just seem to think it's better to have no home at all, than one that isn't up to snuff, so they make sure cheap sheds are not up to code.
Don't buy these old japanese houses, they're literally made of mud and sticks and have absolutely fuck all for insulation.
Living in nature is all fun and games until you're expected to sleep in 50 degree weather while your split unit struggles to keep your paper box of a bedroom cool.
Most of the time the closest hospital is like 2-3 hours away on a bus that only comes twice a day, so you better hope you never get in an accident cause the ambulance won't come for hours and your only other hope is the only other person in neighborhood: your 90 year old neighbor who you're not sure is even still alive.
Source: lived in one for multiple years.
Edit: also when I say old I mean as soon as 1995 Before they majorly overhauled the earthquake and insulation codes nationally
Sounds perfect honestly.
Sounds like Totoro. Here's you 3k I'm in.
Wattle and daube is actually pretty insulated for what it is. That said Japanese homes are cold because they're breezey choosing high air turnover over high insulation value in an attempt to circumvent some of the summer humidity.
so you'd* better hope
The catch is that rural Japan is a a shithole rife with xenophobia, privacy violations, bullying, and problematic neighbors. And that's for ethnically Japanese people, so it's be way worse if you were actually a foreigner.
There's a reason why people in Japan try so hard to move away from rural areas into cities.
As others in this thread have said, buying a property in Japan doesn't extend your Visa or grant you residence in the country. This would be a waste of time if you didn't already have that lined up. However, there are countries that do. Some have what's called the Golden Visa program, or Investor/Real Estate Visa program (there are other names, but if you're doing a search, this should turn up decent results). Here's a list of some countries that do this, and the minimum amount you need to spend.
Portugal - Golden Visa Investment - €500,000 ($540k USD) or €350,000 ($380k USD) for lower population areas, or properties that need to be renovated Residency benefits - Residency permit for 5 years, with the opportunity to apply for permanent residency after that
Spain - Golden Visa Investment - €500,000 ($540k USD) Residency benefits - Residency permit for 1 year, renewable as long as you own the property, and you can apply for permanent residency after 5 years
Greece - Golden Visa Investment - €250,000 ($270k USD) Residency benefits - Residency permit for 5 years, renewable as long as you own the property, and you can apply for permanent residency after 7 years
Thailand - Thailand Elite Visa Investment - THB 1,000,000 (about $30k USD) for a 5 year Visa Residency benefits - Renewable every 5 years with no residency requirement
Ecuador - Investor Visa Investment - $42,500 in real estate Residency benefits - Grants you permanent residency
Malaysia - Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Investment - RM 1 million (about $240k USD) in real estate Residency benefits - Grants you a 10 year renewable Visa
Philippines - Special Resident Retiree Visa Investment - $50k in real estate Residency benefits - Grants you permanent residency
When I was looking into bailing on the US, I made a Libre Office spreadsheet with like 70 countries and all this info plus a bunch of other personal requirements for what I was looking for, so some of it may be outdated. Hell, some of it may be straight up incorrect, so feel free to double check it.
Portugal doesn't have a property based golden ticket visa as of October 2023 due to concerns that it was affecting real estate prices in cities like Lisbon and Porto. But you can still donate 250K euro in cash or invest 500K euro in a local business that leads to job creation (among a couple other investment options). Another option for Portugal is the D7 visa, which requires you to live in the country 6 months the year for 5 years, but requires foreign income of 10K euro per year. Either way, after 5 years, you're eligible to apply for citizenship.
Thanks for the info! I was unaware of the Spain and Portugal options, so looked it up.
Spain ended their program in January, with application deadline April 3.
Potugal ended their real estate version, but still has investment options.
Yeah I figured things would be changing soon.
That's... shockingly affordable if you already have equity in some real estate
That place is either haunted or home to some nature spirits. Either way thwy'll fuck you up.
So I can live a real-life Studio Ghibli movie!?
Sounds like having roommates
They're garbage spirits, but I guess there are some similarities.
Sounds like a deal then
Honestly seems like a more dignified way to go out than in American Civil War 2: Brain Rot Edition
- It's in bumfuck nowhere
- I don't speak Japanese
- Building it up to a modern living standard will be expensive
- I'd have to move to Japan
Unsorted list of reasons why not from the top of my head
It’s not that bad
Looking on maps it’s in a rural area but not that rural. The house is situated on the outskirts of a town, basically
Local middle schools website says they had 185 students in 2020, that’s pretty good for rural Japan
About a 30m walk from the town/school. Train station there, bunch of cafes, konbini.
It’s not going to be living in Tokyo obviously but there are rural areas in Japan that are far worse, where the school is 7 kids that all share a classroom even though they’re mixed grade 2-9 because the district has 1 teacher
Bigger reason for me: that house is decrepit and Japan experiences more natural disasters than pretty much any other country. Like I’m not living in a crap shack when the next earthquake, typhoon, or tsunami inevitably hits
The language isn’t that hard though. プラス、それからもっと漫画を読めるよ。
About a 30m walk from the town/school.
I interpreted this as 30 meters and wondered why anyone would care about a walk that reasonable.
not living in a crap shack when the next earthquake, typhoon, or tsunami inevitably hits
I imagine this would work out pretty great if you can just lift off the roof if it collapses on you in an earthquake. The other two, not so much.
I remember seeing an article on these houses. The biggest issue is this house was built before the 1980's, so it was built before modern earthquake (?) proofing standards. This makes the house unlivable and technically condemned, and the Japanese government won't let anyone (including owner) from being able to live there until it's been modernized to the standards.
While this sounds easy, you need to get the supplies and crew out there (no easy road access), which is expensive, and possibly not a real option (again, remote area and trucks might not be able to reach it).
So you end up with a house no one can legally live in, in an area that can't be reached to repair/build anything. It's just a lose/lose situation and causes the value of the property to be very low.
Only one of those is a problem.
I actually looked into that property once; there was no way it was going to happen for a number of reasons. I ended up buying a house in much better condition in another area.
I really need to do a video about the topic or something. There are many, many landmines with stuff like this. For a very TL;DR and assuming every single other thing is perfect: owning a home does not give you the right to spend any extra time in Japan nor grant a visa; you are on the hook for taxes, fees, septic maintenance (though the above property may have been a pit toilet; I don't remember), and other bills which will have to be paid from a Japanese bank account. There are also certain neighborhood association obligations, property maintenance, fire control, etc.
Not all of us gaijin are tourists. I have permanent residency and I would love to find a cheap house far from the noise and smoke. Do you know where I can look up houses like this?
I'd start by researching areas and find places you like the climate, vibe, future prospects, etc. from there, start with suumo then the akiya bank to get an idea. Next, go in person and spend a weekend there. See what exists that is NOT listed anywhere other thanaybr a sign in the yard (or not even listed but obviously not lived in).
Essentially, there's usually good reason it was abandoned.
Additionally, houses in Japan aren't really built to last. Properties like these are usually bulldozed and rebuit when purchased.
Essentially, there's usually good reason it was abandoned.
For $3400, I'm fine with living with tormented ghosts.
Building standards are improving but, yeah, slowly. Kominka over 100 years can have really good structure if well maintained, but it definitely would not be something who isn't already knowledgeable about them. The majority fall into ruin.
I watched a video from an American guy who did this. But he already had residence, and made it very clear that if you don't have residence, doing something like this would be a waste of time and money. He bought a massive junker of a house and it took him like 2 years and a bunch of help to make it livable. Still a good video, and still a cool idea, assuming you have certain ducks already lined up. Definitely not something to do on a whim.
I looked at doing something like this in quite a few countries, and skipped on Japan pretty quickly. Happy with my decision though.
Also, why buy if you don't want to live there?
It's not gonna earn rent out there. Italy, among other countries also let's you buy abandoned homes.
Not sure if they're still doing it, but a few years back (holy shit maybe a decade), Italy was even offering to pay people to move there. But there were massive conditions. Like, you had to buy a historical property, maintain it to their standards, and open a business to boost tourism, or something along those lines. I looked into it and was kind of intrigued, but it seemed pretty obvious it was designed to draw rich expats, not average losers like me.
There are way more complexities than meet the eye here.
Not the least of which: just buying property doesn't give you a way to extend a visa beyond the normal tourist period (usually 90 days per 6-month period). Japan ultimately is still an isolationist country, and it shows the most in its immigration policies.
I mean its remote, if you don't interact with any gov't agencies then how they gunna know you living there longer than the visa?
Correct. There is no "I own property" special visa status. The 90 day/6 mos can even be denied for any or no reason by immigration if they think you're shady meaning zero access to the property.
terminal birth rates means that won't be an issue for too long
I'm sure you could find a cheap condemned shit hole in your nearest rural area too. That doesn't mean that it's a good deal.
It's so cheap because the current owner doesn't want to spend the money on demolishing the structure before selling vacant land. And if it is still available it is because no developer has looked at it and thought that they could make money on the flip.
Tons of places like that in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsyltucky, and all over the Midwest US. My girlfriend was scrolling through them talking about selling her house and buying one of those places on a big plot of land and thank fucking Jeebus I talked her out of it. I was like "babe, have you never seen the cinematic masterpiece 'The Money Pit' with Tom Hanks?"
Also watched a video about a $4K unit in tokyo because you are literally not allowed to renovate it.
Do you remember the title of that video? Even if it's got concrete floors and walls you're not allowed to cut, I'm surprised if you can't improve it enough to sell for more than 4K.
Can confirm.
There's properties about 2 hours drive from where I am in Western Australia that are unsellable.
There would've been 100 people living in a community there in the past but now it's just a few old people waiting to die.
When someone does die the houses just end up being abandoned because you can't even get an agent to drive out there and put up a for sale sign.
The interesting part about a bunch of the homes in more rural Japan is that they're not actually condemned or shit holes. They're old and would definitely need some love and attention but their population hasn't been at replacement levels for a long time and people would rather live in a big city where they have access to all of the things so slowly and steadily the outer Fringe population areas in Japan have ben getting more and more empty leaving perfectly good houses to sit vacant for years. That's not to say that there aren't shit holes that aren't worth the time it takes to go see them but a large portion of them are actually quite nice.
There are no visible electric or telecom lines running to the house which means they have a generator for power And no communication. And it looks like it might not have a poured foundation although I'm not sure about that.
But the farmer who lived there didn't need those things. Someone who plans on working from home will need such things.
That place is abandoned likely because the farmer who lived there died or went into a senior care facility. There are houses like this one all over the world in rural areas and I can guarantee two things: poor infrastructure and septic tanks. The reason it's cheap is because no developer wants an undeveloped lot.
Sure, it looks cheap. It's cheap for a reason. Buying abandoned property in a remote place is often the most expensive way to find out why.
Japanese houses in particular are basically a consumable. They are designed for a very short lifetime compared to pretty much any other developed country.
I watched a video on this and while it does vary widely by prefecture one of the big reasons is their waste management/recycling rules.
Often, to demolish a house, theres usually a flat fee and its just bulldozed, put into a truck and dumped. To renovate, you have to dispose of every type of waste according to the class of that waste. Which is labour intensive and time consuming.
Japan is in the middle of a population crisis. These houses are empty because there's not enough people. They're desperate for people to immigrate.
They're an isolationist society... they're not looking for people to immigrate at all, they're trying to get their own citizens to have kids. They're also quite xenophobic and racist as well.
Japan is cool as hell, but people put way to much of their knowledge from animes... being a tourist is gonna give you a completely different perspective than actively living there would.
Because Japan can be extremely xenophobic.
going to nightclubs as a foreigner in japan: everyone loves you and wants to talk to you
getting a job (other than teaching english to kids) as a foreigner in japan: good luck
I think you meant "going to nightclubs as a white foreigner in Japan"
There are all kinds of jobs here. Most common is IT-related, though, which is where I'm at.
It's a very remote place
I'd have to be near retirement age while still nimble enough to renovate it and hope my pension and savings would be enough to cover the costs.
Even then, it would be difficult to navigate renovations in that environment where you don't speak the language, have no idea how their houses are supposed to be built, waste disposal and the myriad of other issues that will surely arise.
Getting a job is going to be a bitch - thus the retirement age requirement.
Getting citizenship is going to be an even bigger a bitch.
I'd be an outcast cause of my skin color and inability to communicate.-
ghosts
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Chances of being isekaied are much higher immediately after moving to Japan.
Why are you listing benefits? They asked why not.
:P
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Because they won’t sell it to a foreigner. It’s not exactly legal but they won’t sell anyway.
Unless you lawyer up beforehand.
they do for a lot of them, it's money going in to their country. Getting the rights to live there is a different matter though.
A lot of these are sold by real estate companies that take 100% commission for customers who just don’t want to pay the taxes on it. They couldn’t care less about if you are a foreigner. The local government however, may place restrictions to prevent you from just making it an Air b&b.
Legally, you need to have a minpaku license and other things to make it an AirBnB anyway.
Are you saying this particular house or in general? I live and work in Japan and bought a house a year ago. I actually looked at the property linked or a similar one, but noped out of it.
Will I meet the Totoro?
Good luck with the yokai
I am the yokai
I wish I had that kind of money.
Oh to be a thousandaire
we can imagine it
I wonder if there are soot sprites in the attic. Is there a giant camphor tree nearby?
You'll see all sorts of crazy shit breathing in the toxic mold that's in the attic.
Because buying and not using land is morally wrong.
I don't know that I agree with that. I guess it depends. For example, if they bought the land and let it return to nature, is that really morally wrong, especially given the remote location? Humans aren't the only ones who might want to use that land.
That would be the best option if nobody else is trying to buy it.
My dream is to get a large piece of farm land and plant a native food forest. Regenerating the land and creating a sustainable food source.
That would be cool, but it think the implied context of this post is to use this as an investment to make money. People that are verified on Twitter are generally not good people.
I could feasibly make $4k pretty quickly, I want my own home, and I've always wanted to visit Japan... 🤔
Because these houses are located in remote, rural areas. They have been abandoned because people are moving closer to the cities or the owners are old/dying and they can't continue maintaining them. The money you save from the initial purchase will all come out of the expenses to renovate and maintain the house because a lot of them are run-down.
Of course if you're the type who wants to live in the middle of nowhere, and you have the money and skills to renovate, this can be for you.
I can imagine this would make your taxes wacky
IIRC Japan's more or less the hardest country out there to immigrate to.
What if... hm..what if you declared that your haunted house wasn't Japan, but instead was like your own nation of Sayeedistan or whatever, and you went Home Alone on anyone who tried to kick you offI'm just asking questions
That sounds like sovereign citizen with extra steps.
American? Fellow American?
Just wondering. Because "going Home Alone" on anyone who tried to kick you off is a terrible idea. Americans are used to the idea of behaving like a little shit without suffering negative consequences, or at least they're delayed for years & years because of "your rights"....Asian countries, especially as a foreigner? You have no rights. Fuck your rights. Be polite, be respectful, comply, or you are almost guaranteed to have strong negative consequences.
Asian countries like Japan look & behave like they do because they have a strong moral order that is rigorously enforced. I think maybe 7-8 years ago, I saw they developed a non-lethal high power bean bag cannon that, when it hits you in your center mass, will make you sit your ass down & reconsider your life choices. IIRC, as you're doing that, I think the cannon can deploy an electrified net to further disable you.
Your best bet is to be a fairly well-off, fully legal, kind, polite country hermit. That assimilates to their culture.
To get a visa? Not really. To get permanent status? It's still hard but getting easier (spouse 3 years, working visa 10 years, anyone with enough points in the point system after either 1 or 3 years can apply for PR. Probably more cases I don't know).
You can actually do this in most countries. Public Auctions of homes are for when people don't pay land taxes so the local auditors repossess them and sell them dirt cheap to cover the amount due.
You certainly can't buy a home in Germany that's anywhere close to as cheap as the one in japan. Maybe there are some very remote plots of land with a ruin of a house on it, but those will still cost more than 4000€.
Public auctions around my area usually start at around 150k or more, so it's just not worth it for me.
I don't speak enough Deutsch to navigate their websites for specific examples, but home foreclosures in Germany increased 9% yoy in January 2025, but you're also correct that property prices are quite high which is the primary contributor to rise in foreclosures.
It's definitely highly desirable property given the chaos in the USA, the East, etc.
because it's falling apart and needs a lot of investment to renovate and make it habitable.
Hey if this also gives me a path to residency...
It doesn't.
FUCK
I understand the Japanese don't like old houses. Homes are regularly torn down and rebuilt. Do some research, but it might not cost as much as in the West to rebuild.
It depends. There are cheap builders here of course, but you really get what you pay for. You're going to be paying a lot if you want insulation, double-glazed windows (or better), mechanical ventilation, enveloping, etc.
なぜだめなのw
requires repairs
Black mold fucking everywhere.
Might be a fun projectStarting with "after the burning"
No insurer will touch it without being brought up to earthquake code, either, most likely.
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