Owning an Abandoned Japanese House | Akiya Buying Experience 

All together, with everything, the cost was $40,000 for what we showed you. They’re the owners ^_^ of a very lovely and livable Japanese home!

Thank you for receiving us and thanks John.

Bro is living my *dream*. Countryside Japan is so gorgeous

The house has held up fantastically

I'm currently saving up to buy one of these houses within the next 3-4 years. It's my absolute dream to live in Japan and one day I will do it! Much love from Arizona 💜💜

Only thing stopping me is employment in Japan - such a good looking house.

My wife sold a house in this exact town. I know Zentsuji very well as my wife grew up nearby, we visit every year. It is very visibly a declining town with a very elderly population. It's hardly a place you'd move to for opportunity. There's a reason houses are ridiculously cheap. The guy saying you could buy one as an investment is interesting. It would not be considered an investment as it would continue to lose value. They are not even worth turning into AirBnB as very few tourists go through apart from a few of the temple pilgrims. John saying that it is up and coming is just outright wrong.

Great to see that the original wood wasn't ripped out or slathered in paint. Really nice.

That's beatifull Daryl and natsu san. You took really good care of that house. And try to keep it original 家は凄い見えます😊

Great video John! I've been chatting with Daryl and Natsu recently. Hoping to get down there to meet them in person. They seem like such a lovely and kind family. They have down such a great job with the house already. Keep up the great work mate 🙋🏽‍♂ If you get down to Fukuoka, let me know!

It is a very big spacious house. The house looks to be well maintained, even if the front structure is 75 years old. The many rooms with traditional sliding doors, tatami mats, air vent lattices and decorated sliding doors are very nice! I believe Kagawa is on Shikoku Island (smallest of the 4 main islands). Thanks to the homeowners for showing their house and explaining the history & renovations! It seems like they have become good at buying & renovating Akiya's and are ready to do more.

I wonder who used to own this home ? Did they have kids or just a married couple, or even a single person ? Did they move elsewhere or pass away in the house or a hospital ? This home is huge compared to most homes anywhere. And the gigantic garden is fantastic for growing plants, food, or a playground for the dogs and kids. I like the chicken coop. I hope the birds dont get heat stroke even if protected from the sun.

The previous owners would probably be thrilled that new life was being breathed into the home.

Rural Japan is beautiful. I visited a friend in Saga prefecture and loved his small town.

There's a BUNCH of these houses in the countryside. I live in Ehime and it's the same here. If you are able to work remotely and don't mind living in the countryside, it's a really good option. Beautiful house!

The house is a work of art. Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

That home is beautiful, and looks like a nice quiet area! Here in the US finding a nice home out in the country would be super expensive.

Wow Really nice house. That doggy is going to be a movie star. Not afraid afraid of the camera.😂😂😂 thank you John for sharing. I would love to buy a house in Japan that my family can visit at least twice a year.

This was really interesting. The house looks amazingly solid and in very good condition.

Wow this home is beautiful. Thank you for allowing me to see it.

Darryl, I really like your works in progress project. Looks good, homely and very comfortable. 👌

The long space on the side you are standing in at minute 3:20 in this video is used to hang clothes to dry in the sun and to also store items in the winter that need to be kept cold. We have the same long room that runs along our living and dinning room. At one end is a closet at the other there is a door to the garage where you step down into it. We rarely leave the sliding doors open even in good weather.

awesome find.. it's so Spacious.. love it!

Pretty spacious❤Congrats fam!!

Pressure wash the cement parameter walls. See if there is some sealer you can use to keep the clean view longer.

The upstairs looks well maintained. The hallways around the rooms are designed to keep the rooms comfortable in winter and summer. Expensive homes that were built in Japan would surround the entire rooms with a hallway.

Wow, this was a great find for Daryl!

Also check under your floors. Homes like this aren’t usually insulated under the floors which is why some have floor heating. We found out our’s wasn’t because this past winter which was our first, we discovered the back of our leather sofa was wet with condensation as we were using a kerosene stove at the time while our heater/ac unit was getting fixed. We ended up buying a room size floor mat to solve that issue.

Wonderful and beautiful home thank you for sharing.

Great view guys!..❤ and such a nice 🏡

Wow. I looked at the website. ¥3.5 million to buy and ¥1 million to bring it up to where it is now. Well done. The house has good bones. From the outside one would never expect the interior to have held up so well. Ceilings, walls, and floors look great. Not having to replace tatami was a bonus because there is A LOT of it. I like the hallways along the rooms. The glass doors are a bonus, too. You can close off rooms to get more efficient use of the air conditioning. (We set ours to dehumidify mode in summer rather than cool. Our bedroom A/C has a setting to bring humidity down to 60%, 55%, or 50%. At the moment it hits 23C at 60% humidity.) We are in Kagoshima but im sure summers are equally hot. I'm not a huge fan of beds in tatami rooms. With every room having tatami it cant be helped. Maybe a room or two with flooring will be in the works at some point 😅. I hope that he can find who owns the builings he wants to buy. Isnt there a way to petition to have it sold... I font know how its done but i heard somewhere that it can be fone if owners can't be found.

That's a lovely house!

Wow, very impressive. While not "easy" to do, buying an abandoned home does sound a lot simpler and more attainable than I was led to believe by an article I read on the English NHK site. When one gets out of the "intense" urban areas of Japan's major cities, the experience is indeed quite peaceful. And with the robust public transportation network, you can go pretty much anywhere you want.

Love the paint!

Only in Japan you're next! Your family deserves a house!

That back door is a fire escape. They put those in to help people get out without running through other parts of the house.

6:30 Terrific view! 😊😊

Wow! Daryl and Natsu are doing an incredible job on that house. It's in pretty good shape for being so old and the wood looks fantastic. That's incredible that to buy the wood alone would cost more than they paid for the house. 👍

Wow, what a beautiful home!

This guy is living the dream!

He said you like the house open, but in the winter when it’s cold, it would save on the heat if you close off the rooms that you actually use the most.

Gorgeous house.

Akiya gonna be a hot topic for the coming years. pick up on this topic John. i am looking to buy one in japan too but not too expensive.

Very nice!

Lovely Video

Okay I see the shutters outside the house too. Those are very helpful especially if that side of house gets the direct sun or wind. Ours is open now but when tsuyu is over and the heat comes we are going to close them again until October when it starts to cool down. We shut them in winter but we won’t have to worry this winter as our. Ew house will be completed by then.

Beautiful it looks so beautiful home .

Considering abandoning ship UK, this is definitely an option for me! Especially given home ownership is something of a myth here these days

This was a great video. So was he living there just on a Visa or was it residency? I will certainly check out the website!

Oh thank you so much for this video! I do have a budget saved up enough to buy one and was wondering how to do this! Again, being a US citizen the only thing stopping me is that visa but would love to retire there but also, would have to look into the Healthcare system to see what can be done about that? Thanks again John! I took a screen shot of that website so I'll be looking into it! 😊

wow just wow so nice the home

SUPER!

Doggy is the star ⭐️

Very interesting Barb.

Okay so a word of advice on all this and the buying of old houses. We are renting a house that is almost 50 years-old. This house that is shown here looks similar to ours. Many of these homes are not built to last only the very good ones that were originally built with unlimited resources are going to last you a while. We have seen many different types of homes here in Niigata. And we can tell the good ones from the ordinary. One thing to keep in mind are the building codes for earthquakes. Most homes built in the 50’s had to withstand a 5 but they didn’t have to build the homes on any type of ferro cement foundation until 1971. In 1981 the government updated the code again to allow a home to have some damage but it should not fall on the occupants. Just painting the home isn’t enough to ensure it’s safety especially if it is old. Japanese built their homes with in the least expensive and practical way so you may have to do a little more research prior to buying that old home.

Thats so awesome! If I were to want to live in japan it would be doing it this way. owning your own home and property. an akiya that doesnt take too much to renovate. Rather than a tiny cramped apartment in Tokyo where you just throw your money away. building no equity and enriching the apartment owner. Im surprised your still renting john, have you considered going to buy your own home at this point?

It's like here in Finland. Families move to cities and lot of empty houses in countryside. Those are just a money hole. How about schools? Where people get money? It's cheap to live in countryside but there are reasons why houses are empty. Make love and babies ❤

Your family has beautifully brought a wonderful idea to life! We absolutely adore Japan and Shikoku-it’s magical. You all clearly have the perfect mindset for this. 👍🙏 We’d be thrilled to connect and share ideas about revitalizing an area and drawing in others who share our vision. 👍

Come do a house tour of my tiny home in Mie Prefecture!

The shape of the mountain... Yes, it was Kagawa.

When it comes to QUALITY JAPAN and GERMAN are the best. My parents are still using the same SANYO made in Japan Fridge and Washing machine for over 30 years! And it is still in good shape and working like new. The Longevity is mindblowing🤯. And I have been using a TIGER Made in Japan Rice Cooker for over 20 years. Eversince I was a kid I was told to never buy Made in China stuffs, but instead buy made in Japan products

A dream home!

Amazing, this place is huge!

Diamond in the rough indeed!

Just to warn you, in some places, Koi ponds attract frogs, or toads that croak at night loudly. You could also make one of those Japanese rock stone gardens that you rake into different patterns. You can put decorations to the stone Japanese lantern and a Buddha or Shinto fox

Amazing!✌️

Please reinforce the structure before you live in there, the old house is very cheap but on the other hand the reinforcing against earthquakes are very expensive....

Beautiful house! I would love to retire somewhere there. Nice, quiet, clean air.

very nice!

Aww. Poe should be able to go anywhere he wants. He's part of the family. He's adorable. But the house is amazing. Wow. Thanks for sharing this. Japanese craftsmanship is impeccable.

Wow what an amazing house! I am changing wallpaper patterns in my mind around that house while you walk 😂 So much potential, but it already looks fabulous!

Could you let us know if there is wifi available in the area. Maybe with an average speed one might be likely to get? That would be so helpful to know.

It is very nice but I am wondering whether it is cold in winter?

at last its in 4k!

As always, I confirm the rule in japan: A huge, industrial or restaurant sink, taking half of the useful space in the kitchen. It's ridiculous!

Just wondering about the heavy paws of the dog, does it hurt the flooring of the tatami?

What about income? how does he support his family in the countryside?

Where is this located? And are more akiya available here?

I mean it was an abandoned house, but I am not seeing why it would be a problem to live in? So much space and the environment is nice.

Do you have a video about how to receive a resident permit in Japan? For example if you have enough retirement income to live there is it even allowed?

Beautiful house 😊 hoshii

Wow Sugoine 🤩 How much that house very cool house 😊

These look amazingly well built. Better than $1 million homes in US

Nice! Japan is much safer than any other countries...I know I heard health care system is much better and affordable in japan? How about akiya in Chibari hill area just outside of Tokyo?

AMAZINING house! got alot of peek a boo going on! LOL great place! thanks for the share! stay awesome!

Don't forget the plastic water bottles keep the cats away, don't work but everybody has got them, don't be different 😂😂

This is amazing, Somebody definitely live in there 👍🏠

Ohhh if i had the money i would love to live in Japan for few years

Wondering what annual taxes would be on a property such as this. Water, electric, any other additional costs.

If I sold my house in Australia I could easily afford one of these. Living mortgage free in Japan...wouldn't that be great.

Beautiful house. With so much room, why don't you have a room just for the boys to sleep?

Living my dream!! Once I graduate and get my degree, Ill be looking to move to Japan's countryside. I've been studying Japanese as well and learning the customs and culture as much as possible. It's consumed my spare time and I enjoy all of it. Just need to graduate first.

少し年季が入った物件のようですが耐震補強はされましたか？

I mean the yen is devalued, or else it wouldn't be possible even for ex pats to find a home in japan. Even retired seniors here in the states are buying houses in costa rica. I mean back in the 90's the imperial palace in tokyo was worh more than the whole state of california. Would be nice to see more often ,average Japanese folks in you're videos owning such abandoned homes lol

This is really cool to see. As someone with "only" about 500k net worth, I find it very difficult to own real estate here in Los Angeles (and whatever is within range, is frankly terrible). I can imagine a life like this for me in Japan - barring the obvious issue of immigration, employment, and language. Maybe my other concern with this kind of place is the education for children. I wonder how much they will need to travel in order to go to school.

i can't believe u just said backyard too

single floor is nice. easy to step out during an earthquake.

In New Zealand, I am paying $2000 a month to rent a room. Maybe I should move to Japan?

Shikoku? dang, that's pretty much the same area where my ex is from. - Takamatsu.

I would love to live out there in Japan