My akiya is located in northern Higashi Hiroshima. Of course, it's far away from the ocean and nuclear plants, and the nearest volcano is a 2-hour drive (popular destination for skiing, too). I obtained the hazard maps before buying, and noticed that the only potential dangers are flooding and possible effects from landslides -- however, the house doesn't actually sit inside any danger zones (it sits just outside a mild cautionary area). Also, upon looking at the house and surrounding area, I didn't see any particularly steep areas nearby that might offer a potential threat. Furthermore, the small waterways aren't close by, and the house sits much higher than the fields and roads in front of it (it is in the very back, with some flat land and then forest behind it). I just paid for it last Christmas morning and got the keys! A couple of days later, I made my first trip out there as the new owner and did a bit of cleaning and poking around. It seems that flooding won't be an issue as long as I get the overgrown grass and excess dirt cleaned up (it's been empty and unkept for 25 years!). This weekend, I'm taking out a power bank to charge the well pump and see what kind of water is going to come out of the ground. Of the items left behind in the house, so far I have found nearly 200 old coins, artwork, manga, an autographed Hiroshima Carp baseball, dolls, vintage toys, Sony Walkman Minidisc players/recorders, multiple old cellphones, a variety of old clocks, some racy photobooks, a ton of futons and clothes, crates and crates of large sake bottles, a metal train model -- and I'm still looking!
It sounds like you scored jackpot! 25 years vacant sounds like there'll be a lot of work to do but I guess that's where all the fun is. I'm looking forward to seeing this place on your videos and hope it becomes your full-time home soon. I'm not doing much labor work for my machiya this time but I do hope to renovate my own one day...
@@GoodOldHousesJapan Thanks! I feel a bit overwhelmed since there's so much to be done, and seemingly more each time I go out to the house. However, I am capable in some ways, plus I watch a variety of videos here on the topic, such as your channel! I learn a lot and it helps me to recognize some important things I would've otherwise overlooked. Thanks again! Arigato gozaimasu!!
@@weirdduos well, the good news is that 1) you can absolutely do it if you believe it, and 2) there is a wide range of akiya available to meet many price ranges. Keep the faith!
Sometimes this question comes up in relation to the nuclear plant issue: *Why are Hiroshima and Nagasaki safe to live in while places like Chernobyl are contaminated?* The answer is two-fold, and very simple: 1. An atomic bomb has vastly smaller amounts of radioactive material than a nuclear power plant, and 2. The bombs detonated in the air, both well over 500 meters above each city. Not only did the bombs have a fraction of the radioactive material in them, but because they exploded in the air, much of the radioactive material was expelled at high speeds and spread across a huge area via the winds. By the time it ended up on the ground, there wasn't enough concentration of it to effect the area like a power plant would, so the land is still habitable. Contrast that with Chernobyl, which had exponentially more radioactive material (talking kgs. vs tons), but wasn't nearly as powerful of an explosion, and also happened on the ground. As such, there was less material carried by the wind and much more concentrated on the ground, which is what makes it unsafe even today.
I used to live in Japan. I could care less about natural disasters since being able to walk around at night and not worry so greatly outweighs the other stuff.
Thank you for a really informative video about where the risks are assessed to be. You're certainly right that it is sad to know the villages will disappear. The buildings are one thing, but the bigger loss is the cultural fabric of an area - stories, traditions, festivals such as the local お祭り, local art, specific artisan skills, food, farming practices that are integral to the environment, as is the case with 里山, and don't forget the disappearance of local dialects.
I admire the design of the old homes. Japanese people are fantastic craftsman. You are all very detail oriented. I also admire the way ancient buildings were designed to withstand earthquakes.
Thank you for explaining that in such an easy to understand fashion. The best is you sum it up with an overlay of hazards and conclude with safe region recommendations.
Thank you for sharing your interest in Akiya houses. This one on hazard areas affected by natural disasters is very useful, including the depopulation areas when considering buying a home in Japan. I wished to know more about home insurance which is related to this subject and how do a typical Japanese homeowner deal with it in general. Hope you can make a video on this subject. Thank you.
I actually completly forgott about all the natural disasters in japan. Thank you for this information, now i know what to look out for when buying an akiya myself one day!
Even if you add the deaths from natural disasters to the number of deaths from murders and homicides, Japan is still one of the safest countries in the world to live in.
Thank you, though I don't think I'll be moving to japan, it's interesting to hear about this regardless. The problem of aging/declining population is something my country can also look forward to in the next few decades.
Lots of solid, akiya in fair condition in Chichibu, Saitama...which is an awesome traditional town that has a comfortable 90 minute express train to Tokyo
Very useful. Thanks! My partner and I are developing a winery in Kamigori, Hyogo, which will likely involve agri-tourism. I am hoping that kominka redevelopment will come along with it.
@@titiwa5768 Many thanks for your interest. Our MOTO Farm is in the town of Kamigori, which is the southwest end of Hyogo prefecture. From JR Ashiya, you can take Shinkaisoku to the west. Some Shinkaisoku go all the way to Kamigori, but most stop at Himeji, from where you need to take a local train to further west. From the Kamigori station, the farm is about 15min by taxi. You may be able to spot it by Google map (please Google by “MOTO Farm”).
@@titiwa5768 Thanks for your interest. Our vineyard, MOTO Farm, is located in the town of Kamigori, which is in the southwest end Hyogo prefecture. From Ashiya, you can take Shinkaisoku toward west. Some Shinkaisoku goes all the way to Kamigori, but most stop at Himeji, where you need to change to a local train to get to Kamigori. MOTO Farm is about 15min away from the JR Kamigori station by taxi. You can find it in Google Map by searching with MOTO Farm. Please bear in mind, though, that we are in an early stage of winery development. We are yet to expand the vineyard and build a wine brewery.
@@noritakaakamatsu9713 Thank you for your reply, sounds great, vineyard + brewery! Ok I see where it is. How did you find this property for sale, through some fudosan-ya or Akiya-bank or..? Have a good day!
@@titiwa5768 The property was and is owned by a grape farmer running MOTO Farm. He was looking for an investor to realise his plan to develop the farm into a serious winery. On the other hand, I was looking for an agri-business in Kamigori to invest. Then ex-mayor of Kamigori Town introduced us to each other.
Very interesting, and I noticed it was 3 years ago when you actually made this video. I have never travelled to Japan, although I would dearly love to. Japan is the most beautiful country on Earth, but as you said, the most dangerous! You obviously did a lot of research to make this video, but you were sure to make no guarantees. Which was just as well, as one of the areas you described as 'probably safe', was the Toyama & Kanazawa region. I remember at the beginning of the year, the awful earthquake to affect to Noto peninsula (The same day as the terrible accident at Haneda). Nobody is able to accurately predict any disaster in Japan - or anywhere else in fact - but your video did your best. Thank you for your hard work making this.
Thank you for the kind words. There’s no escaping from natural disasters when living in a country like Japan, the best to do is be prepared. The Japanese people are the most resilient people in the world so they always find a way to come back on its feet.
@@GoodOldHousesJapan This is so completely true. Japan will always get back to their feet. I remember seeing many videos about the terrible earthquake in Sendai in 03/2011. I saw all the destruction and personal tragedies caused by it, and the resulting tsunami. It made me cry and I thought to myself 'How does anyone recover from this?' Not only did they recover, and start rebuilding, but they did it with nobody else's help! I love Japan so much, even though I have never been there, because of what they do in the face of disaster. They don't talk about it and feel sorry for themselves, they just get on and do it - for their families, friends, neighbours and all their fellow countrymen.
I was very curious to see such maps, thanks for sharing them! Would you have some similar maps for climate/weather along the year ? :) I was wondering which area would be the least humid and hot.
This paints areas with huge brush strokes. I live in Kagoshima. The volcano erupts ALL THE TIME. Sometimes 1,000 times a year, sometimes a few dozen times. We barely notice it unless ash comes our way. I go ice skating in the mountains only 1km from a recently active volcano. The roads are closed a radius of 1km away but life goes on otherwise. Tsunami hit even new homes. I wouldn't exclude places just because there MAY be a tsunami in the next 10,000 years. I'm not keen on living near a nuclear power plant but it's a bit of a scare tactic suggesting that another Fukushima might happen. The only point I totally agree with is places that are suffering from depopulation... if you plan on living there permanently. Services become few and far between.
Very informative content indeed and your voice sound like Tokyo Llama youtube channel he lives in Tokyo Japan as well originally from Australia Very clear and understandable
This is video, especially the combined map at the end, is very helpful for me - thank you! I was doing some research on Nagano city in Nagano Prefecture and it looks beautiful. You didn't mention it in this video, but seeing where it is on the map, I see that it's not near any earthquake/tsunami high risk zones, and not close to any nuclear plant or volcanoes. Would you say it's a relatively safe place?
I would add any house built on landfill. Avoid neighborhoods that have names with kanji like 池 (pond)etc, which no longer has an apparent pond present. Landfill plots move MUCH more in an earthquake.
Shikoku actually looked better than almost every other region. Only the southern coast in the hypothetical earthquake/tsunami scenario was an issue. No volcanoes, One isolated nuclear plant, not particularly at risk of landslides (and landslides are very localized issues). Overall, Shikoku and Chugoku were consistently "safer" areas.
Interesting that Okayama or Hiroshima are completely left off as options for your recommendation. My wifes family is in okayama and I think it seems like a nice area. They are on the coast and seem to be relacitely isolated from most od the disasters except earthquake. But i lived in Nara and I definitely like Kansai more. Of course that area is just as earthquake prone. Sad the see rhe rate of population decline in South Nara and Wakayama, but its not totally unexpected.
Every place has some kind of natural disaster. I have grown up in a earthquake area; so I’m fairly numb to earthquakes. I respect them, however I don’t live in fear of them. Everyone weighs the pros and cons and makes their own decisions. I’m getting old and I have more of the mindset of when it’s time it’s time. I’m not going to dare my time to come sooner than it needs to, but I’m living in fear of it. A place where I can enjoy my life is most important. I’m not a Japanese citizen, however I would like to purchase a place and live part time in Japan, avoiding the bad weather times. 😂 😉 Thank you for the information!
Thanks for the video, although it's a broad-brush approach. Street crime and violence far outweighs natural disasters, so one shouldn't worry too much in Japan compared to the USA, but yes, avoid buying waterfront property. I live in the mountains of Gunma, where we have population decline and dangerous wild animals (including bears, wild boar, giant hornets and monkeys). No centipedes or cockroaches (due to altitude), but there are gossipy neighbors who are suspicious of foreigners. Many beautiful dormant volcanoes surround us, and hopefully will stay that way. Nonetheless, clean air and water, safe streets, spacious lots, nice views, a low cost of living, and cooler summer weather make it a pleasant place to live. So if you can handle living 20-60 minutes away from urban civilities, the mountains of Japan are wonderful.
Outweighs in Japan? Clearly not. Many people die in major earthquakes and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami had major mortality. I hope you prepare for such events as it's a matter of when, not if they will occur.
Even in the US, a significant percentage of street crime and violent crimes are committed in very isolated areas of the country. Even within cities, much of the crime is limited to specific areas.
Uda city should be relatively safe from earthquakes, but just make sure the house is not in the landslide danger zone! Lots of rain in southern part of Nara prefecture.
I think one reason is that it hasn’t been inhabited by the Japanese for as long as the other main islands. It used to be sparsely populated by the native Ainu people, and a concerted effort to settle the island by Japan wasn’t made until the latter half of the 1800s. In addition to this, a major goal for the settlement of Hokkaido was to bolster Japan’s agricultural output. As a result, much of the island’s land area became, and continues to be, sparsely populated farmland. Even without taking the declining birth rate into account, many rural areas across Japan also lose some of their population because many young people leave in order to pursue job opportunities in large cities like Tokyo. While Hokkaido does have a few sizable cities (namely Sapporo, Hakodate, and Asahikawa), I’m sure there are still a lot of young people who opt to move to cities in other prefectures instead. From what I’ve gathered, Hokkaido also seems to get a bad rap from some people in the more southern prefectures as being a cold, frozen wasteland. Although this is more-so just a stereotype, the supposed harshness of the climate does dissuade people from moving there.
I would happily live right next to a nuclear power plant if I could, there's practically nowhere safer to live. There were two closer plants to the epicentre of the 2011 earthquake, hit by stronger shaking and taller tsunami waves, but they had sufficient seawalls (Onagawa) or sensible placements of backup generators (Fukushima II). It's truly telling that in such a seismically active country, there's never been a major radiological accident due to earthquakes.
These ares are not really safe though, they are located on the coast which itself has the risk of both tsunami and landslides. Fukushima Daiichi and Daini were major radiological disasters with uncontrolled release of radioactive materials and all units never to operate again.
@@rsmith02..Daini never released any radioactive materials though Did you miss the part where I talked about Onagawa? That plant's slated to have its two newer reactors restarted. It got hit by the strongest shaking and tallest tsunami waves. TEPCO's corruption and lax safety attitudes are no inherent inditement of nuclear power.
@@TheSonic10160 TEPCO's corruption and lax safety attitudes ARE an indictment of nuclear power in Japan if TEPCO is running the nuclear power plants. "Nuclear power is safe" is an empty statement if the actual plants are unable or unwilling to operate safely. Nuclear power can be made safer or more dangerous depending on how it is operated, and that is the only meaningful way to assess it.
@@vlo4829 But nuclear power objectively is safe, it has the least deaths per kW/h of any generating source. Furthermore, TEPCO as a business has been raked over the coals for their lackadaisical attitude. Firstly the PR hit has been enormous, secondly they've lost income by having to shut down their nuclear reactors, and thirdly they've had to pay damages and also for the retrofitting to their remaining plants. Where it would really suck would be the company that runs Onagawa or some other NPP that was well above the tsunami and earthquake code at the time and could have been generating power all this time in TEPCO's stead but were also forced to close as part of the Japanese Government's kneejerk overreaction.
@@TheSonic10160 I don't disagree. My point is just that the reality of the specific company or plant must be taken into account, because safety can be sabotaged if they have lax protocols, are shirking regulations, are not being regulated or properly audited/checked on, etc.
Really good map, yeah i don’t want to be by plants, that could new nuclear waste transport vehicles driving by, they might vent to test it or whatever, then the 1000000 year particle’s landing on my roof, birds flying into storage buildings then carrying the particles on my house (happened in uk already)
Kanazawa city & most of Toyama prefecture (except Himi, which is part of Noto peninsula) actually have only minimal damage from the earthquake. Noto peninsula though is off the list for now I guess.....
It's just a risk map. Toyama, Kanazawa, Osaka, Kyoto, etc. have been deemed to be low-risk areas, but all it takes is ONE earthquake and any of those cities could be devastated. Also, marking the fault lines as the places to avoid is not a good way to assess where the most damage will occur in an earthquake. It is almost never the fault line itself that experiences the worst of an earthquake.
It’s not about nuclear plants in general, but one of the worst natural disasters in Japanese history, which happened very recently involved all the things he just mentioned at one, a tsunami, earthquake and Nuclear plant disaster at one (one affecting the others). So for Japan, this is something to really consider.
Yes that is always a concern...that said living in Japan anywhere could potential become the next fukushima when the big earthquake hits. It's the fate of an island country...
The ice wall greatly reduced the amount of radiation going into the Pacific. Fukushima prefecture itself is large and varied and I'd be happy to live in the non-evacuated towns.
good video topic and well researched. Here in Taiwan where I create YT videos, we have the similar threats. Ans also, I’d say it could be dangerous living veey near Taiwan airports, major harbors and military bases, because China will bomb them first.
its the land of outdated administrative practices, shaming and racism. I love japan, love it like a secind home, but it has huge social problems that no one talks about.
How does a American buy or get a free house a akiya in japan ? I want to move there so bad I want to live in the rural part of Japan so bad. I wish somebody would do a step-by-step guide. I know I’m not having a midlife crisis just because I’m 42 and single. I have always wished to live in Japan and have like a little Homestead. I would definitely want to live in the part of Japan that gets the most snow. I don’t care if it’s depopulating more rural the better in my opinion.
