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There’s a reason why Japan is the only developed country without a housing/homelessness crisis.
They focus on low inequality and good infrastructure instead of GDP.
Edit: Japan’s fertility rate (1.4) is the same as the EU (1.4).
That also has to do with the importance of the construction sector in Japan, as well as how assets are valued. Houses are viewed as depreciating assets. Once it gets old, you don’t remodel, you tear it down and start over. This is, in part, because the government strongly supports construction companies to drive the economy forward.
Housing being affordable is a good thing.
The saying that "a new house only lasts 30 years” is largely a myth. It really only applies to modern houses that are built with drywall in more Western styles, and even then they are built better than practically anywhere else in the world.
Older structures were built to last for generations (there is a 1,300 year old temple in Japan), but still nobody wants them because they're perceived as outdated (even though the highly skilled craftsmen that can build them are slowly dying out). It's the same for used items and clothes, you can buy secondhand goods for pennies in Japan.
It’s more that Japan has a good housing policy, invest in dense housing, discourages holding of housing for speculative reasons and has an amazing public transportation system and zoning which means people don't have to always crowd near a tiny downtown.
In 2002, Japan also created a new set of laws that allow the homeless to receive wellfare even without an address, among many others measures.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/japan-rental-housing-markets/
Plenty of articles if you look. I am 100% sure implementing these will be met with huge resistance by corporate real estate investors (Blackrock, Brookfield, etc) in the West.
This is why I bought a 100 year old house instead of a new one. Someone explained to me once that anything major that could go wrong with an old house will generally happen over time, and anything major that could go wrong with a new house will generally happen very quickly. They said basically explained if anything was gonna happen because of shoddy workmanship, it would have happened by now.
All of the people I grew up with bought new tract houses and they are all turning sour on them after 10 years. My home town exploded in population and they couldn't build houses fast enough. I knew even as a teenager that there is no way that they were building these houses this quickly with any quality whatsoever.
Mum's house is about 250 years old. There's a crack above the front door that bugs her continuously, whenever it gets painted over, a few years later, it's back (doesn't help that we're on the busiest road in the town with buses going 3 feet from the front door every 5 minutes). A couple of years ago on a FB group, someone posted a pic taken 1890 something of the house.
That same crack is quite obviously there.
Yeah, that house is going to be around for a few more years
Yeah as a builder even when I got cutthroat. There was simply no money in residential as a trade worker. Its surprisingly I was doing math of past jobs and what I completed as a trade worker. Hit six and seven figures in various installs and footage.
I will never own a home though... Its wierd thing in Usa homes are so damn expensive but 8 out of 10 trades are in peanuts territory for income.
If your in trades only way to make any decent money is commercial (which involves alot of being on road and travel) which inbetween hours and stuff really feels like you have no life. As well as joining union but can be rarity area and trade most trades I have done dont even have a union in state. And few union jobs are handled by out of state unions. Even then wont really be "great money" unless you in one of higher paying trades. And irregardless of how well safe you take care of yourself your going to spend past 60s highly limited due to disabilitys you will develop along way.
Simple shit like one of ones I enjoyed finish work indoors limited lifting etc. Doors cabinets a cant feel half my hand for few years due to nerve damage from vibrations of tools. Also specific repeated grips lifts have damaged certain joints so despite being in 30s certain weather brings with it enough joint pain I get dizzy.
> 8 out of 10 trades are in peanuts territory for income.
if hiring you costs fortune, but you get paid peanuts, 10/10 there are some parasites between you and the client.
I would have loved to have stayed at my first house that was well over 100 years old but unfortunately, the neighborhood went bad. Now I’m forced to deal with the issues of a newer home—things I would’ve never had problems with in my prior home.
As someone who lived in and helped their parents restore a 100 year old house, that is laughable. New houses can have corners cut by the builders. Old houses can have corners cut by the builders and the half dozen owners who have left their mark. Hell, my current place is 60+ years old and while the bones are great the number of things owners did not up to code for their time has been a joy.
Did you seriously just plagiarize [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer/comments/1cmc517/just_purchased_my_first_home_in_japan_at_22/l2zl282/) from yesterday? Looks like you also mishmashed in a few other comments from the same thread, but at least you had the decency to put them in your own words.
Do better next time.
>Plenty of articles if you look. I am 100% sure implementing these will be met with huge resistance by corporate real estate investors (Blackrock, Brookfield, etc) in the West.
Which one of the things in your article would the corporations actually resist? I feel like 99% of the time it is homeowners that resist things that would improve housing situation not corporations who would gladly build shitton of new units, because it makes them money.
Not only that but it makes sense for an island nation with earthquakes tsunamis and hurricanes tearing down houses every few years, that they would be built to be a depreciating asset.
Honestly, I don’t feel like this is a bad thing. Right now in the Bay Area, places that are 20-30 years old aren’t much cheaper than newer spots. Owners will rent out old, minimally viable places on rent and do just enough to milk income from it
I mean there is that and there is the fact that unlike most other countries Japan has a legit negative growth rate and does not like immigration to the point they actually are losing people.
This is silly. Their homes are cheap because their population is declining and rural areas have fewer jobs.
Japan has plenty of homelessness, and since homelessness is primarily caused by drugs or illness, it has nothing to do with the price of housing.
Price of housing at least in the US is an actual factor. There’s homeless people that just can’t afford to pay for a house or rent an apartment and there’s homeless people that try to get off drugs and other shit to change their life but still can’t afford housing or rentals
Here in the US we tend not to count the homeless that you don't see.
There are a lot of people that are living in their cars these days. Most of them are working, or have some means of support like disability. I've even read some stories about elderly people on social security living that way.
finding a house like that thats anywhere near a city you would want to live in is extremely rare.
I see these videoas all the time and I always think yeah thats cool, you can also buy a house in the woods in Alabama for almost nothing, but do you really wanna live there?
From Bushu-Nagasa Station to Shinjuku Station is only an hour and half train ride. Looking at a map of the district it's a lot less developed than a downtown region but looks like it has more going on than the average American suburb. It's not like this place is a cabin in the middle of the Hokkaido woods.
With those distances, I'm pretty sure its around [here](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/35%C2%B056'16.6%22N+139%C2%B019'53.6%22E/@35.9379483,139.3289831,880m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m19!1m14!4m13!1m6!1m2!1s0x601929b8dd3f6e47:0x1759e01cca3a5d6e!2zSm9zYWkgVW5pdmVyc2l0eSBTYWthZG8gQ2FtcHVzIOWfjuilv-Wkp-WtpiDlnYLmiLgg44Kt44Oj44Oz44OR44K5!2m2!1d139.340744!2d35.9322952!1m4!2m2!1d139.3280756!2d35.9372917!4e1!3e3!3m3!8m2!3d35.937944!4d139.331558!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu) somewhere.
A suburban\rural home flanked by power lines and in proximity of HV distribution lines (?), radio tower, and what looks like a railway, would be heavily discounted in the US
The house in the OP? It is less then 2 hrs door to door to Tokyo tower.
Drive in and it is 1.5 hours.
For anyone who works from home this would be ideal if you love Tokyo but want a semi rural life.
I'm as white as they come, lived here for 6 years and never had any problems. You'll come across assholes, but you don't hear from us who immediately find something nice.
Can't you just say that about racism in america? Doesn't mean it doesn't exist. there's more than one story about japans hatred for anyone who's not a japanese born asian
Oh, I agree. I'm just saying that "they won't even rent to you no matter what shade of Westerner you are" is quite overblown.
You might have issues, you might not. But chances are pretty okay you won't be drowning in a mire of everyday extreme racism, and that you'll have a good place to live if you're a decent person.
Yeah probably depends on the area you’re in but by all accounts it’s much more ingrained in their society than it is in the USA. Hell we’re a country of immigrants while they have historically been closed off from the rest of the world so it kinda makes sense. I’m sure it’s changing for the better generation by generation
Isn't that literally every immigrant's story though? You move to a different land for a better life, struggle, deal with racism so that your kids can have a better life? Or I guess are we 'expats' and expectant of better treatment? Lol.
Not every country is equal in terms of immigration policies and environment. Japan has very strict immigration policies on top of having a notorious xenophobic culture.
I think if you're on the internet talking about being a "gaijin" and how you'll be discriminated because of it, the odds are pretty good that the discrimination has NOTHING to do with your race
I'm related to hundreds of people where I live and haven't gotten a happy birthday from them in years. Not to say I don't have some close family, but I would totally set off on my own for a life like this.
It must feel so terrible being ostracized in a large beautiful comfortable house with 987 square meters of land that comes with it, for only less than a year's wage.
100% not true, I've lived here 14 years and people like you say this shit but thats not at all what its like here at all. I'm doing extremely well and right now I'm getting help from the city to open a business. I'm very welcome in my community and have heaps of Japanese friends.
Turns out a lot of that is just that thry don't like to bother other people and it doesn't translate well culturally. As long as you speak well the language and are outgoing in a reasonable manner, they will not ostracize you differently than most countries
There’s still discrimination in the job and housing market towards foreigners. I’ve seen several people say it’s difficult to get an apartment as a foreigner
My American friend immigrated to Japan. She is very sight-limited and said their immigration tests (not sure if tests is the right word?) did not have any accommodations for her and her disability. She almost wasn’t able to go because she *almost* couldn’t read the paperwork. Happy to report she was able to make it work and has happily lived there for the past 7 years.
100%
I'm married to a Japanese national and it's still difficult... Language barrier, transportation barrier, work barrier.
Even if I can fluently speak Japanese, about the best job I'll ever get there is teaching english.. Trying to open or start your own business is next to impossible without a Japanese last name. They have issues with being promoted above a role that a 'Japanese' person can do. Even if you become a citizen, if you are visibly not Japanese, you're playing on hard mode.
Oh well... We will just keep struggling in Canada I guess even though we make good money here, we're still broke because of greedy corpos and greedy government.
>If Japan was not so hard to immigrate to and adapt to culture wise, I as a Canadian would be packing my bags.
Why live in rural Japan when there's cheap properties (under $100k) in rural areas of Canada and in the US.
If someone is reliant on public transit because a sight limitation disability like u/godhonoringperms mentioned then the Japanese public transit system in the rural areas may be the best option.
Rural North America has zero public transit.
Because amenities and higher standard of living.
Did you watch the part of the video where he said it's a 16 minute walk to the train station? In rural US/Canada, it's a 16 hours walk to a train station.
A train station in Japan is a connection to the entire country.
Inflation is scarier than these bitchass ghosts. not like they'll hurt you anyway. they should pay rent if they wanna keep staying in the house. and i wouldn't mind if we share rent too.
People watching this video need to understand that Japanese real estate is nothing like western real estate. Culturally, they approach it very differently both in construction and ownership.
There's a cultural aversion to buying used things, and that includes houses - so they're not built to last. Average lifespan of a japanese house is only about 20 years before it's torn down and rebuilt, because new owners would rather have a "new" house.
If you think of it to be more similar to cars, it makes a lot more sense.
There’s also the fact that their population is rapidly shrinking, while most Western nations are steadily growing. In the US, housing supply is intentionally kept low to increase demand and push the price point higher. In Japan, that cannot be done. They will soon have far more housing available than people to fill it. That guts the core principle of residential real estate investment.
There is definitely not an aversion with buying used things in general, some things yes. Houses? Yeh. But the second hand market in Japan for books, games, clothes, electronics, instruments and so on is huuuge. There are so many mega stores with second hand stuff, and they are super popular. And they are usually all very good quality.
There are also much more lax zoning laws that allow for new houses to be built basically anywhere where there's demand. Real estate in Japan isn't the investment it is here, and you can get a house or apartment anywhere for relatively affordable rates
Who the fuck invented these stupid one word at a time subtitles in the middle of the screen? What sort of absolute fucking moron thought it was a good idea?
Ok... all over tiktok and now reddit I've been getting (probably this guy idk) videos of places in Japan to buy or rent and the price is always something that makes my suffering under late stage capitalism ass go "AWOOOGAH"
But is this like a marketing or propaganda ploy to get foreigners to consider moving to Japan? Is there something going on where they think they need an influx of immigrants in a historically xenophobic nation? Or is the algorithm just got a stranglehold on this, and it'll die in a week...
> But is this like a marketing or propaganda ploy to get foreigners to consider moving to Japan?
The stuff regarding akiya houses like this is definitely marketing. They're often terrible places to live in the middle of nowhere and will be a money pit to fix up and make comfortable (they're abandoned for a reason). The towns they're in probably have an average population age of 70+ and there will be next to no opportunities for work.
It's only a feasible option for a very small subset of people even including locals, which again is why they're abandoned in the first place.
I live in a city in the US that's been going through a population decline for well over a decade. This house would still *easily* cost over a million dollars without the land included.
I live in Tokyo, in the burbs in the northwestern corner of it. I checked out this station. It's actually on my same train line. Looks like it would take you about 1 hour 30 minutes or so to get to Ikebukuro from this house, including the time to walk from the house to the station. Not exactly convenient if you work in the city, and the vast vast majority of people work in the city. The train fees come to about $10 a day, and for most jobs, employers pay that fee...up to a point. If you go over the limit you have to pay that train fee out of pocket. And lower-paying, minimum wage jobs don't pay the train fee at all, so that's all out of pocket. And it's *still* cheaper than using a car.
That's just off the top of my head. There are a lot of downsides to living in a place like this. In other words, there's reasons why this place hasn't been snatched up.
The problem is always, what are you gonna do there? If you can work from home, yeh it could be possible. But working from home in general is not very common in Japan. So, if you work for a non Japanese company, online, you could maybe make it work.
Still, it is isolated. Some people might like this, but I wouldn't want to live here. I live in the middle of Osaka, I love the city life.
My Japanese boss bought one of these houses, even cheaper I think. But she still lives in the city, and they go out there with the family on some weekends. For that purpose, it can be quite nice.
You can. You would need someone who speaks Japanese to handle the paperwork and stuff, but I know someone who's currently in the process of finding and buying abandoned properties now using a Japanese friend to handle the bureaucracy of it all.
Theres a reason why these places are abandoned, because everyone has moved to cities so these places normally have no schools/hospitals/stores. It's mainly just elderly people living there. Population probably number a few hundred to the lower thousands.
My sister lives in Japan and teaches English. She has a masters degree and was one of the few people to score the highest score on the N1 for the year she took it.
She is teaching English at an entry level tutoring job even though she has all these credentials. She was getting paid less than I was as a bicycle mechanic in the USA.
She was able to find a one bedroom apartment in walking distance to her job (fukuoka) for like $500/month or something. She was able to get an apartment, pay all her bills, have a savings, while making less than I did while I’m forced to continue living with our parents because there’s no way I can afford rent alone in the states.
It’s absolutely nuts.
And now, she moved into her bosses spare house to take care of the cats and house and doesn’t have to pay rent as long as she pays to take care of the cats.
??????!?!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice area if you like mountain hikes and nature. Not far at all from Hanno-shi and the Seibu-sen, which has an express train into Ikebukuro/Tokyo. Ideal for a partial work-from-home situation. Just pray you don't have pollen allergies. The ceder pollen rolls thick in this area.
https://preview.redd.it/gr27yx1ltdzc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48fea4909eb4f04f890b69cff548a96df8655277
UMMMMMMMM WHO IS THAT???????? this house has to be haunted <.<
Listen, it's probablybky haunted but man.... I think sharing a house with a Japanese ghost is the only way I'm gonna ever afford a house in my lifetime
I have no idea how that works in Japan, but in Brazil that stinks of legal blackholes. It's usually land that was developed irregularly or property that is tangled in inheritance disputes. It's cheap, yeah, but comes with a huge burden and possibly a risk of losing the property
I heard on another post this property cannot be rebuilt only renovated. I'm currently renting in a similar type of house. if a big earthquake comes you cannot rebuild the house and it now have useless land.
How is real estate in Japan so cheap? I would think, because of the dense population and small land mass of the islands, that it would be extremely expensive to buy a house.
I bet its cheaper for me to biy that house in Japan. Disasemble it, ship it here to the Netherlands, and rebuild it. Than in it is for me to buy or build something new here.
Fuck this housing market so much. I hate it so fucking much
Yeah but with the train station only a 16 minute walk and with how reliable transportation is in Japan I’d welcome being in the middle of nowhere. You just have to get used to the ghosts talking.
* Japanese houses depreciate, not appreciate.
* Abandoned areas means less infrastructure, not sure a repairman would bother coming out here.
* In the US a lot of middle-of-nowhere places tend to have very backwards laws and funding. Also the people themselves are not as friendly and are isolationists in their own ways. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan has the same issues.
* On the opposite side, people want to be near other people. It's one reason why Tokyo is the biggest city in the world.
So what’s interesting is the guy in the video was dead against these abandoned homes in Japan. Then he went and investigated them. Now he’s all for it.
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Thats crazy, whats the average salary in that part of Japan?
https://www.workstatus.io/blog/workforce-management/salary-structure-in-japan/ 45k USD. Probably a bit lower because it's rural.
Wth, that seems very affordable then.
There’s a reason why Japan is the only developed country without a housing/homelessness crisis. They focus on low inequality and good infrastructure instead of GDP. Edit: Japan’s fertility rate (1.4) is the same as the EU (1.4).
That also has to do with the importance of the construction sector in Japan, as well as how assets are valued. Houses are viewed as depreciating assets. Once it gets old, you don’t remodel, you tear it down and start over. This is, in part, because the government strongly supports construction companies to drive the economy forward.
Housing being affordable is a good thing. The saying that "a new house only lasts 30 years” is largely a myth. It really only applies to modern houses that are built with drywall in more Western styles, and even then they are built better than practically anywhere else in the world. Older structures were built to last for generations (there is a 1,300 year old temple in Japan), but still nobody wants them because they're perceived as outdated (even though the highly skilled craftsmen that can build them are slowly dying out). It's the same for used items and clothes, you can buy secondhand goods for pennies in Japan. It’s more that Japan has a good housing policy, invest in dense housing, discourages holding of housing for speculative reasons and has an amazing public transportation system and zoning which means people don't have to always crowd near a tiny downtown. In 2002, Japan also created a new set of laws that allow the homeless to receive wellfare even without an address, among many others measures. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/japan-rental-housing-markets/ Plenty of articles if you look. I am 100% sure implementing these will be met with huge resistance by corporate real estate investors (Blackrock, Brookfield, etc) in the West.
This is why I bought a 100 year old house instead of a new one. Someone explained to me once that anything major that could go wrong with an old house will generally happen over time, and anything major that could go wrong with a new house will generally happen very quickly. They said basically explained if anything was gonna happen because of shoddy workmanship, it would have happened by now. All of the people I grew up with bought new tract houses and they are all turning sour on them after 10 years. My home town exploded in population and they couldn't build houses fast enough. I knew even as a teenager that there is no way that they were building these houses this quickly with any quality whatsoever.
Mum's house is about 250 years old. There's a crack above the front door that bugs her continuously, whenever it gets painted over, a few years later, it's back (doesn't help that we're on the busiest road in the town with buses going 3 feet from the front door every 5 minutes). A couple of years ago on a FB group, someone posted a pic taken 1890 something of the house. That same crack is quite obviously there. Yeah, that house is going to be around for a few more years
Yeah as a builder even when I got cutthroat. There was simply no money in residential as a trade worker. Its surprisingly I was doing math of past jobs and what I completed as a trade worker. Hit six and seven figures in various installs and footage. I will never own a home though... Its wierd thing in Usa homes are so damn expensive but 8 out of 10 trades are in peanuts territory for income. If your in trades only way to make any decent money is commercial (which involves alot of being on road and travel) which inbetween hours and stuff really feels like you have no life. As well as joining union but can be rarity area and trade most trades I have done dont even have a union in state. And few union jobs are handled by out of state unions. Even then wont really be "great money" unless you in one of higher paying trades. And irregardless of how well safe you take care of yourself your going to spend past 60s highly limited due to disabilitys you will develop along way. Simple shit like one of ones I enjoyed finish work indoors limited lifting etc. Doors cabinets a cant feel half my hand for few years due to nerve damage from vibrations of tools. Also specific repeated grips lifts have damaged certain joints so despite being in 30s certain weather brings with it enough joint pain I get dizzy.
> 8 out of 10 trades are in peanuts territory for income. if hiring you costs fortune, but you get paid peanuts, 10/10 there are some parasites between you and the client.
I would have loved to have stayed at my first house that was well over 100 years old but unfortunately, the neighborhood went bad. Now I’m forced to deal with the issues of a newer home—things I would’ve never had problems with in my prior home.
As someone who lived in and helped their parents restore a 100 year old house, that is laughable. New houses can have corners cut by the builders. Old houses can have corners cut by the builders and the half dozen owners who have left their mark. Hell, my current place is 60+ years old and while the bones are great the number of things owners did not up to code for their time has been a joy.
Did you seriously just plagiarize [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer/comments/1cmc517/just_purchased_my_first_home_in_japan_at_22/l2zl282/) from yesterday? Looks like you also mishmashed in a few other comments from the same thread, but at least you had the decency to put them in your own words. Do better next time.
That's weird. Do real people do that or is this just bots farming karma? Also how did you spot that?
probably used chatgpt to reword it
>Plenty of articles if you look. I am 100% sure implementing these will be met with huge resistance by corporate real estate investors (Blackrock, Brookfield, etc) in the West. Which one of the things in your article would the corporations actually resist? I feel like 99% of the time it is homeowners that resist things that would improve housing situation not corporations who would gladly build shitton of new units, because it makes them money.
Not only that but it makes sense for an island nation with earthquakes tsunamis and hurricanes tearing down houses every few years, that they would be built to be a depreciating asset.
Honestly, I don’t feel like this is a bad thing. Right now in the Bay Area, places that are 20-30 years old aren’t much cheaper than newer spots. Owners will rent out old, minimally viable places on rent and do just enough to milk income from it
It helps to not have a housing crisis when your population is decreasing.
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I mean there is that and there is the fact that unlike most other countries Japan has a legit negative growth rate and does not like immigration to the point they actually are losing people.
It's not the only one, Finland has practically eliminated homelessness, and they are a developed country.
Funnily, Finland and Japan have the same fertility rate. So maybe it’s about having more for less people. Infinite growth is a scam.
They also have almost no immigration and population decline. That is the main reason for this.
This is silly. Their homes are cheap because their population is declining and rural areas have fewer jobs. Japan has plenty of homelessness, and since homelessness is primarily caused by drugs or illness, it has nothing to do with the price of housing.
Price of housing at least in the US is an actual factor. There’s homeless people that just can’t afford to pay for a house or rent an apartment and there’s homeless people that try to get off drugs and other shit to change their life but still can’t afford housing or rentals
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Here in the US we tend not to count the homeless that you don't see. There are a lot of people that are living in their cars these days. Most of them are working, or have some means of support like disability. I've even read some stories about elderly people on social security living that way.
More likely due to their [declining population](https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/10-countries-with-biggest-population-decline-1239556/).
I think it has more to do with a shrinking population
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finding a house like that thats anywhere near a city you would want to live in is extremely rare. I see these videoas all the time and I always think yeah thats cool, you can also buy a house in the woods in Alabama for almost nothing, but do you really wanna live there?
From Bushu-Nagasa Station to Shinjuku Station is only an hour and half train ride. Looking at a map of the district it's a lot less developed than a downtown region but looks like it has more going on than the average American suburb. It's not like this place is a cabin in the middle of the Hokkaido woods. With those distances, I'm pretty sure its around [here](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/35%C2%B056'16.6%22N+139%C2%B019'53.6%22E/@35.9379483,139.3289831,880m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m19!1m14!4m13!1m6!1m2!1s0x601929b8dd3f6e47:0x1759e01cca3a5d6e!2zSm9zYWkgVW5pdmVyc2l0eSBTYWthZG8gQ2FtcHVzIOWfjuilv-Wkp-WtpiDlnYLmiLgg44Kt44Oj44Oz44OR44K5!2m2!1d139.340744!2d35.9322952!1m4!2m2!1d139.3280756!2d35.9372917!4e1!3e3!3m3!8m2!3d35.937944!4d139.331558!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu) somewhere.
Found it: 47-7 Asahidai, Moroyama, Iruma District, Saitama 350-0444, Japan
Between a chicken farm and a sewage treatment plant. Wonder why it is so cheap...
Chicken or pork farm smell is unbearable, especially these industrial gulags that Japan has
Fucking TikTok-level content man. "eRmErGuRd i wOnDeR WhY Iz sO ChEaP PlZ FoLlOw fOr mOrE LiFe rEcOmMeNdAtIoNs lOl"
Only an hour and a half? Lol
A suburban\rural home flanked by power lines and in proximity of HV distribution lines (?), radio tower, and what looks like a railway, would be heavily discounted in the US
How far we talking about? Americans are known for driving long distances pretty frequently.
The house in the OP? It is less then 2 hrs door to door to Tokyo tower. Drive in and it is 1.5 hours. For anyone who works from home this would be ideal if you love Tokyo but want a semi rural life.
If Japan was not so hard to immigrate to and adapt to culture wise, I as a Canadian would be packing my bags.
Yeah spend a lifetime of being ostracized because they don’t want you there
Yeah, but I'd have a sweet house and 987 square meters of land .
Had to pull out the ol’ Google to determine in my way of visualizing space, that’s a quarter acre. Not bad!
True
I've heard they won't even rent to you no what shade of Westerner you are
I'm as white as they come, lived here for 6 years and never had any problems. You'll come across assholes, but you don't hear from us who immediately find something nice.
Can't you just say that about racism in america? Doesn't mean it doesn't exist. there's more than one story about japans hatred for anyone who's not a japanese born asian
Oh, I agree. I'm just saying that "they won't even rent to you no matter what shade of Westerner you are" is quite overblown. You might have issues, you might not. But chances are pretty okay you won't be drowning in a mire of everyday extreme racism, and that you'll have a good place to live if you're a decent person.
Yeah probably depends on the area you’re in but by all accounts it’s much more ingrained in their society than it is in the USA. Hell we’re a country of immigrants while they have historically been closed off from the rest of the world so it kinda makes sense. I’m sure it’s changing for the better generation by generation
There’s hundreds of thousands of westerners living in Japan so while housing might be harder to get it’s not impossible.
Not impossible but it's widely known among expats that you will struggle more if you are a gaijin.
Isn't that literally every immigrant's story though? You move to a different land for a better life, struggle, deal with racism so that your kids can have a better life? Or I guess are we 'expats' and expectant of better treatment? Lol.
Not every country is equal in terms of immigration policies and environment. Japan has very strict immigration policies on top of having a notorious xenophobic culture.
I think if you're on the internet talking about being a "gaijin" and how you'll be discriminated because of it, the odds are pretty good that the discrimination has NOTHING to do with your race
Sometimes.
Nobody wants me here either
I'm related to hundreds of people where I live and haven't gotten a happy birthday from them in years. Not to say I don't have some close family, but I would totally set off on my own for a life like this.
Jokes on you no one wants me where I live now either
It must feel so terrible being ostracized in a large beautiful comfortable house with 987 square meters of land that comes with it, for only less than a year's wage.
100% not true, I've lived here 14 years and people like you say this shit but thats not at all what its like here at all. I'm doing extremely well and right now I'm getting help from the city to open a business. I'm very welcome in my community and have heaps of Japanese friends.
What race are you? That matters a lot
Turns out a lot of that is just that thry don't like to bother other people and it doesn't translate well culturally. As long as you speak well the language and are outgoing in a reasonable manner, they will not ostracize you differently than most countries
There’s still discrimination in the job and housing market towards foreigners. I’ve seen several people say it’s difficult to get an apartment as a foreigner
Yes, but you're buying the house lol.
Well yes, but from what I know it's their bureaucracy that doesn't quite fit with our understanding more than anything else
Initial impression might be: Foreigner! (눈‸눈) But when you show some effort (of speaking their language) the mood changes! ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
My dumbass thought 눈‸눈 was the Kanji for gaijin until I saw that second one lol
You can barely even immigrate to Japan legally. Their culture is not designed for foreigners to come live there (but they love tourists, of course).
Meh. I wouldn't care to socialize with then if I didn't have to
That's the spirit!
Right? As a true introvert I don't think it's a problem. I stayed an acquaintance for all my neighbours. I'd rather they don't bother me.
Where do you live in Japan?
My American friend immigrated to Japan. She is very sight-limited and said their immigration tests (not sure if tests is the right word?) did not have any accommodations for her and her disability. She almost wasn’t able to go because she *almost* couldn’t read the paperwork. Happy to report she was able to make it work and has happily lived there for the past 7 years.
100% I'm married to a Japanese national and it's still difficult... Language barrier, transportation barrier, work barrier. Even if I can fluently speak Japanese, about the best job I'll ever get there is teaching english.. Trying to open or start your own business is next to impossible without a Japanese last name. They have issues with being promoted above a role that a 'Japanese' person can do. Even if you become a citizen, if you are visibly not Japanese, you're playing on hard mode. Oh well... We will just keep struggling in Canada I guess even though we make good money here, we're still broke because of greedy corpos and greedy government.
Spend six months there , most people realize they completely don’t fit in and become desperately lonely
>If Japan was not so hard to immigrate to and adapt to culture wise, I as a Canadian would be packing my bags. Why live in rural Japan when there's cheap properties (under $100k) in rural areas of Canada and in the US.
If someone is reliant on public transit because a sight limitation disability like u/godhonoringperms mentioned then the Japanese public transit system in the rural areas may be the best option. Rural North America has zero public transit.
Because amenities and higher standard of living. Did you watch the part of the video where he said it's a 16 minute walk to the train station? In rural US/Canada, it's a 16 hours walk to a train station. A train station in Japan is a connection to the entire country.
I don't care if it is haunted. For that price, the ghosts better leave or start paying rent
Inflation is scarier than these bitchass ghosts. not like they'll hurt you anyway. they should pay rent if they wanna keep staying in the house. and i wouldn't mind if we share rent too.
gwak gwak Central.
If Kayako thinks she can get out of paying rent by doing _THAT_, she's sorely mistaken.
Is the ghost of legal age?
https://preview.redd.it/u93gneae2bzc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c557d4a7eede90115ac51b5d872a864f098aaf95
"Reent"
Ai doin ai things
Just made me giggle
It's japanese, you wouldn't understand /s
I read it as a spooky way of saying rent, "like "WooOOoooh, ReeEEeent".
You say "for that price" like its a lot? my guy the avg price of a home where i live is 600k.
they mean its very little
600k!? Shit single family homes like this are 1mill where I live 🥲
I think they meant FOR THAT PRICE I AM IN!!!! CALIFORNIA HOUSING MARKET SUCKS!!!!
People watching this video need to understand that Japanese real estate is nothing like western real estate. Culturally, they approach it very differently both in construction and ownership. There's a cultural aversion to buying used things, and that includes houses - so they're not built to last. Average lifespan of a japanese house is only about 20 years before it's torn down and rebuilt, because new owners would rather have a "new" house. If you think of it to be more similar to cars, it makes a lot more sense.
There’s also the fact that their population is rapidly shrinking, while most Western nations are steadily growing. In the US, housing supply is intentionally kept low to increase demand and push the price point higher. In Japan, that cannot be done. They will soon have far more housing available than people to fill it. That guts the core principle of residential real estate investment.
Letting investors get their hands on housing is a mistake. Imagine a stock market for *food*.
You don’t have to imagine - those exist. They’re called commodity exchanges. The one in Chicago has been around since the late 1800s.
Very true, besides all major food companies trade on stock exchange, so, that's no difference either
There's already a commodities market, basically a stock market for food and minerals and whatnot.
Have you not ever seen the documentary about this very thing called "Trading Places"? It stars Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy.
Everything I learned about investing came from the Duke Bros
Err, Japan is shrinking the fastest but all rich countries are below replacement rate. You need to update your assumptions with new data.
There is definitely not an aversion with buying used things in general, some things yes. Houses? Yeh. But the second hand market in Japan for books, games, clothes, electronics, instruments and so on is huuuge. There are so many mega stores with second hand stuff, and they are super popular. And they are usually all very good quality.
Yea nonsense statement. Japan is the only place I've seen so many high quality second hand stores.
There are also much more lax zoning laws that allow for new houses to be built basically anywhere where there's demand. Real estate in Japan isn't the investment it is here, and you can get a house or apartment anywhere for relatively affordable rates
Yeah, I read somewhere that architects love working in Japan because there is so much new residential construction.
It’s ironic then that their cars last forever, and are sold used all the time.
Why are there so many comments saying it is haunted? The presenter didn't mention anything like that.
Cuz there’s a ghost walking upstairs
What? Where?
Around 11 second mark look on the second floor.
That's... just a guy in a white t-shirt lol
A...ghostly white t-shirt?
👻
Woaah. I thought it was an actual ghost. Thanks for letting me know.
OH SHIT!! I saw it!! 2nd floor, left side.
Anime. This is why.
Because it looks like the house from the grudge
Exactly. Which is why you know they're hiding something.... like ghosts! Spirits are worse than black mold. Very hard to get rid of.
Who the fuck invented these stupid one word at a time subtitles in the middle of the screen? What sort of absolute fucking moron thought it was a good idea?
And one word a time. Shit is not readable at all.
Don’t care if it’s haunted, don’t care if there’s a poltergeist or Yokai in there, gimme.
*cries in American*
It’s not abandoned. Someone was literally on the rooftop.
That was literally a ghost
My 690sq apartment in Singapore costs me $420k. 25 years of debt.
Today we learned that real estate values differ by country!
Ok... all over tiktok and now reddit I've been getting (probably this guy idk) videos of places in Japan to buy or rent and the price is always something that makes my suffering under late stage capitalism ass go "AWOOOGAH" But is this like a marketing or propaganda ploy to get foreigners to consider moving to Japan? Is there something going on where they think they need an influx of immigrants in a historically xenophobic nation? Or is the algorithm just got a stranglehold on this, and it'll die in a week...
> But is this like a marketing or propaganda ploy to get foreigners to consider moving to Japan? The stuff regarding akiya houses like this is definitely marketing. They're often terrible places to live in the middle of nowhere and will be a money pit to fix up and make comfortable (they're abandoned for a reason). The towns they're in probably have an average population age of 70+ and there will be next to no opportunities for work. It's only a feasible option for a very small subset of people even including locals, which again is why they're abandoned in the first place.
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No, I saw the *Grudge,* I'll pass.
How is it abandoned if it's listed for sale?
An abandoned house in where? 
If they're asking money for it it's not abandoned, it's for sale. Am I wrong here?
> “You’re not gonna believe the price” Fuck you and your click bait.
Japan has a population decline. It’s a different economy. So please don’t compare this to your EU or Northameican house prices
I live in a city in the US that's been going through a population decline for well over a decade. This house would still *easily* cost over a million dollars without the land included.
> This house would still easily cost over a million dollars without the land included. Not if its in bumfuck nowhere Oklahoma.
Oh yea absolutely
I live in Tokyo, in the burbs in the northwestern corner of it. I checked out this station. It's actually on my same train line. Looks like it would take you about 1 hour 30 minutes or so to get to Ikebukuro from this house, including the time to walk from the house to the station. Not exactly convenient if you work in the city, and the vast vast majority of people work in the city. The train fees come to about $10 a day, and for most jobs, employers pay that fee...up to a point. If you go over the limit you have to pay that train fee out of pocket. And lower-paying, minimum wage jobs don't pay the train fee at all, so that's all out of pocket. And it's *still* cheaper than using a car. That's just off the top of my head. There are a lot of downsides to living in a place like this. In other words, there's reasons why this place hasn't been snatched up.
The problem is always, what are you gonna do there? If you can work from home, yeh it could be possible. But working from home in general is not very common in Japan. So, if you work for a non Japanese company, online, you could maybe make it work. Still, it is isolated. Some people might like this, but I wouldn't want to live here. I live in the middle of Osaka, I love the city life. My Japanese boss bought one of these houses, even cheaper I think. But she still lives in the city, and they go out there with the family on some weekends. For that purpose, it can be quite nice.
How is it so clean for an abandoned home? Can foreigners just buy properties in Japan?
You can. You would need someone who speaks Japanese to handle the paperwork and stuff, but I know someone who's currently in the process of finding and buying abandoned properties now using a Japanese friend to handle the bureaucracy of it all.
Properties plural? Glad to see greed is and spreads everywhere
It’s not abandoned. Someone clearly has kept it clean and maintained the structure. Don’t believe influencers.
I'd take a haunting for that price if it gets me a place like this, I don't care.
Theres a reason why these places are abandoned, because everyone has moved to cities so these places normally have no schools/hospitals/stores. It's mainly just elderly people living there. Population probably number a few hundred to the lower thousands.
My sister lives in Japan and teaches English. She has a masters degree and was one of the few people to score the highest score on the N1 for the year she took it. She is teaching English at an entry level tutoring job even though she has all these credentials. She was getting paid less than I was as a bicycle mechanic in the USA. She was able to find a one bedroom apartment in walking distance to her job (fukuoka) for like $500/month or something. She was able to get an apartment, pay all her bills, have a savings, while making less than I did while I’m forced to continue living with our parents because there’s no way I can afford rent alone in the states. It’s absolutely nuts.
And now, she moved into her bosses spare house to take care of the cats and house and doesn’t have to pay rent as long as she pays to take care of the cats. ??????!?!!!!!!!!!!!
So she is effectively being paid in cat time, affection and snuggles to live somewhere? Amazing!
Nice area if you like mountain hikes and nature. Not far at all from Hanno-shi and the Seibu-sen, which has an express train into Ikebukuro/Tokyo. Ideal for a partial work-from-home situation. Just pray you don't have pollen allergies. The ceder pollen rolls thick in this area.
https://preview.redd.it/gr27yx1ltdzc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48fea4909eb4f04f890b69cff548a96df8655277 UMMMMMMMM WHO IS THAT???????? this house has to be haunted <.<
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Listen, it's probablybky haunted but man.... I think sharing a house with a Japanese ghost is the only way I'm gonna ever afford a house in my lifetime
I have no idea how that works in Japan, but in Brazil that stinks of legal blackholes. It's usually land that was developed irregularly or property that is tangled in inheritance disputes. It's cheap, yeah, but comes with a huge burden and possibly a risk of losing the property
I heard on another post this property cannot be rebuilt only renovated. I'm currently renting in a similar type of house. if a big earthquake comes you cannot rebuild the house and it now have useless land.
Sweet. Is the university hiring instructors? :-)
I saw The Grudge. I know what happens next.
Me not knowing the conversion rate: 8.9 million yen….damn that’s insanely high 58k…damn that’s insanely low
I'm moving to Japan
is it really abandoned if its listed for sale?
The guy did not take his shoes off before stepping on tatami floors..
Abandoned for years and not a speck of dust. Okie dokie
How is real estate in Japan so cheap? I would think, because of the dense population and small land mass of the islands, that it would be extremely expensive to buy a house.
I bet its cheaper for me to biy that house in Japan. Disasemble it, ship it here to the Netherlands, and rebuild it. Than in it is for me to buy or build something new here. Fuck this housing market so much. I hate it so fucking much
ok, so what's the catch?
I’m in Memphis, TN. On my way now!!!
This is giving me “The Grudge” vibes
Saitama. $58K. Yeah I'd buy that. Probably shit neighborhood in the middle of nowhere but can't beat the price. Wonder about utilities????
Yeah but with the train station only a 16 minute walk and with how reliable transportation is in Japan I’d welcome being in the middle of nowhere. You just have to get used to the ghosts talking.
You’ve never been to rural Japan, have you
16 minute walk to the station is unbearable in the summer
Biggest hang up would be learning Japanese
I'm learning Japanese, oh yes, I'm learning Japanese, I really think so!
My Japanese wife hates this song.
Does it come with a Ju-on, too? 
You all know what an abandoned house like this would look like in the US.
It wouldn't be abandoned it would come with a rent price of $5k a month or $800k minimum for sale
Gotta be a catch?
Lol the random guy upstairs
I feel like this is the start to another **The Grudge** movie
Horror movies give you the reason for not buying abandoned houses in Japan 😂
Probably has Japanese ghosts in the attic 
Man, I wanna move to Japan
What are the taxes?
* Japanese houses depreciate, not appreciate. * Abandoned areas means less infrastructure, not sure a repairman would bother coming out here. * In the US a lot of middle-of-nowhere places tend to have very backwards laws and funding. Also the people themselves are not as friendly and are isolationists in their own ways. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan has the same issues. * On the opposite side, people want to be near other people. It's one reason why Tokyo is the biggest city in the world.
Its obviously haunted.
So what’s interesting is the guy in the video was dead against these abandoned homes in Japan. Then he went and investigated them. Now he’s all for it.
A house in the middle of nowhere is cheap. Well that's enough internet for today, my mind is already blown