Plain-English guides to the akiya process — what it costs, how it works, and where the real listings hide. Free chapters from our complete guide.
The sticker price is the start, not the total. Here are the one-time costs at purchase and the small bills that arrive every year — in plain English.
Read →Yes — and with fewer restrictions than almost anywhere else. No visa, no residency, no minimum price. Here's exactly what a foreign buyer can and can't do.
Read →The ¥500,000 sticker price is the start, not the total. Here are the fees and taxes nobody mentions — and why the cheaper the house, the higher the percentage.
Read →No — not even close. Japan treats property and immigration as completely separate systems, and owning a house gives you zero immigration status. Here's what actually gets you the right to live there.
Read →Foreigners can buy a vacant house in Japan with no visa and no residency. Here's exactly how the process works, step by step.
Read →The house is cheap because the work isn't done yet. Here's where the money actually goes — and how to tell a ¥3M project from a ¥20M one before you buy.
Read →The cheapest, most interesting vacant houses rarely reach the English aggregators. Here's the real map of where akiya are listed — and how to read it.
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