Japan is an earthquake-prone country, so old houses like those in other countries are dangerous and cannot be used. New earthquake-resistant houses must be constantly built. Since December of last year, a new law called the Special Measures Act for Vacant Houses, etc. has been enacted, and old houses are being demolished one after another.
I am from Japan. You are absolutely correct. Such kind of old Japanese house is not so comfortable at all..in terms of earthquake the bulidings after 1985 comply the construction regulation but the older house don't.
Yeah, as for Chahnah they tell us that the "root cause" for all the crisis was the "cahmunist pardy". Hm.🤔So -- WHO or WHAT was the "root cause" for ALL THE CRISIS in Japan??🙄
After listening to this video, I can tell you, as a very long-time resident, there are a lot of negatives to living in the smaller village areas. There is no social life. No easy in-person shopping, no schools in the area, etc. I met a friend who owns his own business in a countryside setting but close to a big city. He and his wife are not Japanese but long-term residents like me. He said they are doing okay due to his and his wife's high-level Japanese language ability, and the neighbors are friendly. The local school has 4 kids and is likely to die out soon. He has to commute to Tokyo for work with an over 90-minute one-way journey. He has bought a bunch of land around him for next to nothing because the village is dying out, too. People who look at Japan as a cheap alternative to buying a home must realize many things; they won't be able to re-sell the property since it doesn't appreciate, the government limits the number of days a temporary accommodation can accept guests (like Airbnb), the home is likely to be old and not suitable for living due to mold and structural age (requires money to renovate), and of course, there is the language barrier. In the end, if you are willing to renovate yourself and budget the right amount, you could have an acceptable home to live in, but you will never recoup your investment. Don't believe those social media people when they are highlighting the low cost of homes; there are a lot of extra costs, both financially and mentally, to buying an abandoned home here.
they make video to earn few dollars to living if aykia renovation had any profit there wasnot 10 million of them this sweden guy made video just make $2 more hahaha and no tourist will go countryside on airbnb listing .
What scares me away is visa and residency permits. They are impossible to tackle. As a foreigner you can only stay in a country for 180 days cumulative, and allowed 2 entries per year. As a non resident you are not allowed to own a car. That's a huge hindrance for living in the rural areas as they have limited transportation options. Contacted that Anton guy. He won't even talk to you for free (one very polite formal pre-registered e-mail and then a consultation fee). He is businessman alright. Besides his situation is different, he is a resident. A non residence can only operate Airbnb on weekends and you'll have hell of a time to register them. And to rent out a house good luck to find the tenants! I don't mind the absence of social life in a half deserted village with friendly neighbors if I could have a car and a farmers for food nearby. But I really would love to have a permanent residency if I buy a house. PS Is there still no central heating there, even in a newly built houses? Another puzzle to me.
Sounds like japan has not solved their growth problem by immigration like other developed countries like Canada. How hard is it to move to japan, get a job and live. Are they welcoming non-Japanese people. There are millions of people out there that would love to move to japan to live a simple life if they can do it legally. Larry
@@leapnlarry Canada hasn't "solved" anything by allowing unlimited immigration. They have caused themselves many more social and economic problems instead. Try searching "Canadian immigration crisis" if you want to learn the truth about this topic.
Same in every rural area in many countries. When I see the decline of my childhood district it makes me very sad. But lack of jobs and poor infrastructure is driving so many people to the crowded urban areas. I wish I could go back home.
Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service 16.11.24 1415pm i need a place to live. maybe i go live in japan?
@@maskassmario321 Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service 19.11.24 0813am depends what jobs... i dont know much about the agrarian side to Japanese life.. obviously they grow crops and the like..? for all the blether the sit behind a computer screen scenario isn't all it's cracked up to be, either.....
Not true. Plenty of countries, like mine, have thriving rural areas. Nobody is abandoning villages and moving to the city here in Belgium, on the contrary. Here people often ‘flee’ to the countryside once they have kids.
Japanese here. There are many abondoned houses in Japan because most people in Japan don't want to buy an abondoned old house with lots of leftovers as it needs lots of work and money to clean up and repair the house. When a house is abondoned for some reason, the owner often can't sell it because the owner doesn't have enough money to renovate the house or to demolish the house to clear the land to sell it. And most abondoned houses in the suburbs or countryside have poor living conditions.
… I feel pity and sad for deplorable situations in Japan, a country that once i admired so much, Japan was screwed by American geopolitics , USA planted Japanese politics with imaginary enemies thus focus on purchasing of weapons which lead to high cost of living as taxpayers money were spent on military equipment and hardwares , which indirectly impacted Japanese unable to afford decent living conditions
@@tokaitrading8335 The main reasons for Japan's seeming economic decline are the hollowing out of domestic industry due to the internationalization of export industries and the decrease in domestic demand due to the declining birthrate and aging population. This is also the reason why the number of vacant houses in Japan is increasing. However, it cannot be said that the Japanese people have become poorer. Japanese are not experiencing the housing crisis that is occurring in other developed countries, and the quality of life has not declined that much.
I have been to Nagoro. While it is a beautiful area, it is very remote and there are no shops nearby. I can totally understand why young people would not want to live there.
property tax in Japan sucks. It’s not worth owning a land and house where villages and towns are disappearing due to depopulation. Your left with an asset you can’t get rid because nobody is going to buy how ever cheap it is. And there are many instances that people pay for millions of yen to give away or dump their land. That’s not even free, but they pay you for buying!. These negative properties are often called 負動産. Don’t buy in to it and pay the agents. It’s often a trap.
@@myaopanNo, sort of. The property tax in Japan can negligible. My home is in the countryside according to tax law and the average Japanese person. I live six minutes to downtown Nara. The tax we pay is nothing.
@@AlistairAVogan in your case it seems its still in a fairly convenient location where it’s probably easier to resell if you want to be out. I’m talking about more rural areas where the population is really declining and young people leave because there’s not much of a chance to make a living nor the proper infrastructure anymore. How about that kind of land where you can’t resell. (And you are still paying property tax on it no matter how cheap the price maybe) There’s no giving away to relatives or friends or governments. You’re stuck with it and this is literally why the property are dead cheap. There’s a reason for it.
@@myaopan You are right. My location is convenient, and there are many like it. Some in my neighborhood. …Your response to @1412Bunny is probably a non sequitor or, don’t you think? They have mentioned that they can understand that living where cities and towns are disappearing due to depopulation - in the countryside - would be unattractive for young people because, essentially, nothing is there. And you have mentioned how “housing tax sucks”. But it doesn’t address this comment, and in the context of their comment yours isn’t correct. Why? Because housing tax in the countryside, and Nagoro, is/would negligible. But more importantly, the Japanese categorize/conceptualize land “outside” the the city often as ‘rural’, ‘countryside’, ‘inaka’. It is a significant. What is countryside to most Japanese is just over a line, or the next train stop. It isn’t what non Japanese conceptualize as ‘the country’. There is an argument to be built that housing tax is crazy, but the opposite argument can exist. Still, when you do the math, even when the housing tax is “crazy” it may still be a much better option than paying off a housing loan in a western country, especially after a bubble bursts. Yes. Do not buy a Japanese house to flip it for profit. This is not how the housing market has worked, traditionally, in Japan.
@@AlistairAVogan You can only save your property tax if you have a house with it. That is why many of us just leave houses empty instead of making it flat in this country.
I have lived here for 30 years. I appreciate the BBC trying to wrap their heads around this but the fact is that most of these "homes" are just shacks that no one from overseas would want to live it. Costs of renovating are crazy here. In the first clip you saw a guy who obviously did structural work to his house. Oh my!!! five times more expensive than actually just bulldozing it down and putting up a new one. LANGUAGE!! is a huge barrier. Countryside towns are hugely conservative. Even Tokyo people are considered "outsiders/ foreigners" . You have to think of Japan as if it were Europe. You can travel over a mountain range to the next town and find the language is completely different. I have been in situations where the people won't even say hello to you. Generally the people in Japan are wonderful but just like back home, you have to understand that the countryside has its own culture. You can't just "drop in" and buy a house here. It is a complex situation and thinking that you can just blow in on a flight and pick up a home is a huge stupid mistake.
Nagoro is in a narrow valley from the looks of it; very often farming land is quite apart from where houses are built, and in mountainous areas, there isn't enough flat land to farm. Where there is flat land, it's almost all given over to cities and farming.
There are abandoned houses all over the world, in rural areas. Spain. France, Italy, all over. Young people move to big cities and they don’t want to go back to their villas.
As this report, houses over 30 years have little value in Japan. 「売地・上物あり」：Land for sale with an old house. It means you have to spend more money to demolish it before you can use the land. Yes, renovations are possible but not cheap, not easy. A middleclass Japanese I am.
Many many vacant houses here and there. Check agents who introduce some renovated akiyas for foreigners on youtube. It will be a lot of fun. And free. 👍
One of the challenges is finding employment or a revenue source if you move here. In small villages, it can be very hard to earn a living and to use the house for tourism, is also difficult due to the lack of tourists. That said, I have renovated houses and sold them with a good profit because I did the work myself. If I had to hire a contractor, i couldn't make a profit. I have documented everything on TH-cam. I'm now working on my 3rd house but this time, I'm not selling it. It was feasible because I live in a town of about 100,000 people. If you search on TH-cam, you'll find hundreds of people renovating houses. Anton turned it into a business, that's great.
exactly, without government intervention no one esp young people would move there. one option is to encourage ecotourism taking into account the uniqueness of each town?
globe staying out of nation on thier own keeping tradition of extra low %'s of non native culture could go far in allowing destructive for nature industrial era houseing a going by the wayside and also allow will of people steady reductions in those liveing there a win win for land and water
The worst part is the people working hardest are getting the least remuneration for their efforts and then shamed in the media for not taking more hours, more work despite the poverty wages. 40% of people in work need state support. That’s a reflection of greed not poor work ethics by working people. This is being done by design, by greed.
I agree with you and I believe that the secret to financial stability is having the right investment ideas to enable you earn more money, I don’t know who agrees with me but either way I recommend either real estate and stocks..
I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards early retirement and financial freedom, but since covid outbreak, the economy so far has caused my portfolio to underperform, do I keep contributing to my 401k or look at alternative sectors to meet my goals?
Many people often underestimate the effectiveness of a financial specialist in planning for retirement. If I could advise you, you should seek the help of a financial specialist. For the record, working with one has been the best for my finances...
@@kaylat63 How can one find a verifiable financial planner? I would not mind looking up the professional that helped you. I will be retiring in two years and I might need some management on my much larger portfolio. Don't want to take any chances.
*Mr Gary Mason Brooks* a highly respected figure in his field. I suggest delving deeper into his credentials, as he possesses extensive experience and serves as a valuable resource for individuals seeking guidance in navigating the financial market.
I’m Japanese living in Japan. People don’t wanna live in the countryside because there is often a strong pressure to conform to the local rules. Neighbours are quietly observing you all the time and spread rumours based on their own understanding/misunderstanding of your behaviours. Even if you behave yourself, you are still an outsider forever even after living there for a few decades. Rigid hierarchies exist in the countryside and local powerful families can often get away with anything. If you can’t get along with the powerful figures you should leave the village before your house catches suspicious fire.
@@LL-vk9zc Sorry, my English comprehension level is so low that I’m afraid I cannot see how your point is related to my topic. I “wanna” extend my sincere apologies…
BBC this is one bad video definitely spreading misinformation….1. No of Akiya (empty houses) is not that high n most are unliveable or unrepairable, 2. Inheritance Tax is very high in Japan & complicated, which is another reason next gen doesn’t wanna get those properties, hence adding to more Akiyas (totally Japanese government failure), 3. Even living owners who move to another locations don’t demolish homes n just keep land, reason, the yearly tax for just keeping land is 6 times higher !!! Yes 6 times, so people prefer to leave the rotting buildings rather than paying more tax. Everything that shines ain’t gold baby, Tiktokers or so called influencers share contents that gives them more like, so all the truth isn’t shared
Totally agreed, this piece is not even scratching the surface. Speaking only to a TikToker (a Westerner at that), instead of mentioning the country's property tax, is sheer laziness.
This is actually serious. My friend Kenji-san would clean his passed away relation's tombstones. This is a filial task of the eldest child. No-one to do that anymore. We are just all stardust floating in an infinity of an ever-expanding universe.
My family is one of those 3 millions who visited Japan this year. We rented an AirBNb in a reasonable price at the heart of Tokyo! Indeed, when we go to supermarkets and see people doing constructions, most of the workers are not Japanese at all. Here in Taiwan, we also have population problem but it’s quite the opposite, construction companies are building apartments and condominiums and most of the time, units are sold already even before the building construction starts. O heard they call it investment for the future but I really wonder who will rent and live if population doesn’t increase.
I wouldn't use AirBNb in Japan because voyeurism is a rampant crime in this country. While violent sexual crimes are not so common you quite often hear somebody arrested for setting up a hidden camera in places like public bathrooms and rocker-rooms in schools. I am pretty sure some Japanese folks are hosting their home just for this purpose.
lived in Japan for 30 years - still do. Wife is from a remote village. Rural japan is not a place you want to live. Limited services, everything is closed, and very little opportunity to meet people even if you speak Japan. Most of these abandoned houses are beyond repair. Trust me, it becomes depressing after a while when everything is old and falling apart and there are really only older people around. The REAL STORY is that you can buy a nice house near major city centers for under 500,000 US dollars. Try doing that in Canada, UK, Australia and so forth.
Average Tokyo salary is 5m JPY about 417k/mo. A 400k GBP mortgage in the UK will take 80% of that salary, or 60% of a 400k CAD mortgage in Canada (both 25 year terms, 5% interest). So yes, in absolute terms Japanese big cities are cheap vs global equivalents but not in relative terms.
@@szurketaltos2693 You can buy a nice family house 20 minutes from the center of Yokohama, for example, for about 420,000 dollars - even less, depending on how far from a station you are comfortable with - no biggie if you drive. You cannot buy 'anything family' 20 minutes from the center of Vancouver or any major city in Canada for that price. 2 million plus to get you started for what are also Akiya.
@@jasonmoser8957 Vancouver is insane, but average home prices are 1.2m CAD - about 3x, vs about 2.5x average salary for Tokyo. Yes, single family houses will probably be more on average. But the number one thing that makes buying in Japan so much cheaper is the interest rate, not the principal.
I see your point exactly about being in the middle of nowhere very very very very depressing and that is understandable but the profile of tourists coming to stay for 2 to 3 months is a good profile of prospective buyers. I like to recall that James bond movie back in the '60s you know with Sean Connery and they're bombing around in some little Japanese sports car along the coast with a beautiful ocean... yeah, get it? This is what people want you can find close to the coast Japan is basically close to the ocean wherever you are so you can find a nice little house manageable you know maybe one story house that is still very good condition and it's not going to come down crashing on your head even with an extreme or I should say except for an extreme earthquake. What people need is a significant other someone devoted to them and someone who wants to go hiking or swimming or riding little moped around some little Island these kinds of people tourists don't care about making friends there are tourists they're here to spend time together going out for cheap eats- this is an important thing people don't realize there are many many cheap eats in Japan and there are many cities that are large enough and have suburban populations that support infrastructure. Right we're talking about tax base and you know it's not all that depressing as far as demographics generally speaking there are many kids and still many schools. Sure many schools closed down or merged their student populations but generally there is a shortage of teachers in Japan because many people retire or they don't work I they get married and become housewives for example anyway I'm digressing
As a Japanese architect working in Europe, the case of second house bought by foreigners doesn’t sound working well. It because normally, you need to maintain housing against humidity, piled snow and this sort of daily works. Otherwise the house is gonna be decayed soon even if you don’t get any disasters. Comparing to European housing, it’s much more difficult to just maintain housings in Japan especially in countryside close to mountains. I’m not trying to exclude foreigners. If you can live in there not for a second house, I think it would be super nice :)
yeah, but we all want second houses lol. very few people want to live in the countryside for longer than a month or two each year, especially if there are no services, not many people to interact with, etc. If so many villages are going to die by 2038, I think it's inevitable and probably better to allow people to more easily acquire countryside vacation homes, and they become responsible of course for maintenance.
I am Japanese and I handled 2 abandoned properties inherited from the family members. First of all, too many stuff inside the house usually, to trash or demolish would be costly. After demolishing the house, the property tax would jump up to 5x to 6x, so they just keep them as is.
We restore ancient Japanese houses, mainly in Kyoto. Here’s the actual situation: 1. The combination of low birthrates and the migration from rural to urban areas means the rural decline is very very rapid but ONLY in in unpopular areas. Want to be on the beach? You pay UK prices. 2. There are no abandoned houses in places like central Tokyo or Kyoto. There are UNUSED houses, which is very very different. Try and buy them and you pay normal prices. In other words, unless you want to be where nobody wants to live, in an unlivable house, with nobody around to repair it for you, no schools and shops, then go ahead and buy an akiya.
Yeah, but that's in those cities where its central instead of outskirts of the cities, though. You can easily find 100k homes in Sapporo and other non-major cities around the country. You can even go to Nara and then travel to Osaka with a car or train in less than an hour.
My wife’s family just sold their home west of Osaka. The closing price was close to $600K in USD. I assume the purchasers will tear it down and build something new and sell for a profit. Where I live expect to pay $1 million and up, way up. I have been a visitor to Japan since 1983 and retired here over 2 years ago. Yesterday I was able to order a cup of coffee at a convenience store without messing up language wise for the first time, so I am making progress. Without my wife who grew up in the area, I would not survive more than a couple weeks here. I have an Australian friend in another area who is fluent in Japanese, he is over 50 and cannot secure any kind of employment. Fortunately he has money so he is okay, but he wanted to work as he enjoys it. Like many of my other foreign friends who live in Japan, they do not live here during the summer or winter because it’s uncomfortable. I have grown used to it, although a couple during the summer I had close calls with heat walking home. If I were to collapse, most likely no one would stop to help me, as wonderful as the Japanese people are, it’s just not what they do in my opinion. My point here is that buying a worthless akyia renovating it on your own and moving here is definitely not for everyone.
As your programme pointed out, the Akiya problem is closely linked to the population ageing, but another fact behind it is that many young women in the countryside are unlikely to return home once they leave to study or work in a big city like Tokyo.
A home in Japan has no value after 25 years despite being in good shape. The average age of a home is only 38 years. Many opportunities for good carpenters to fix the homes. These empty homes often come with back taxes and farming requirements.
This isn’t unique to Japan, rapid urbanization and declining fertility. This is happening to varying degrees from the USA, Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia and many others. Japan is just early to this.
The US population will likely continue growing throughout all the 21st century; The UK and France will likely sustain their populations throughout. Japan and the other East Asian nations are indeed different, because their populations will fall. It's the double edged sword of being unfriendly to immigration.
@thomHD really depends how the immigration story goes from here. The backlash to an amount of immigration that keeps a reasonable growth rate (status quo) is huge.
@@szurketaltos2693 Japan's probably going to slip from 2nd wealthiest country in the world to 10th or so within our lifetimes. A big reason it's still where it is now is because it's debt is 260% of GDP (and the public don't protest it) - they basically chose debt over immigration. I actually think in 2050 the situation in East Asian economies will be so bad that immigration in the West will look vindicated, in spite of the problems it produces.
@@thomHD Yes, no immigration will kill those east Asian economies unless automation gets much better soon -- and given that "AI" is not remotely close to GAI and is in fact stalling out, I wouldn't bet on automation saving them or indeed the West if the anti immigration turn causes immigration to drastically slow.
Lots of silly negativity here. Yes. You might be emphasizing the negative too much. I bought an akiya. Some repair was required. But it was built well before the economic miracle following the war and so the craftsmanship is such that it - at 140 years - has very nicely survived and clearly can survive the many earthquakes that it has experience. 9 of course to be safe some additional alliterations will be made.) The house is a dream. I am very happy about the decision we made. It’s a decent piece of land, gorgeous house with multiple structures (guesthouses), surrounded by rice fields and mountains, 6 minutes by train to downtown Nara. In Canada with what I paid in Japan I couldn’t purchase a one-room bachelor apartment. The money saved stays in my pocket for future use. And I own the house, not the bank. And the cost of living can be very manageable.
I thought about buying one but decided not to. It is very cheap but so is rental. I can easily rent a nice house with 3 bedrooms for jpy 100,000. Kyoto has tons of old houses that foreigners bought and remodel for airbnb. Not sure if the return is good as I checked on google map there are so many to choose so the occupancy rate might not be as expected. If the locals are not buying I doubt the foreign buyers make up enough demand. Even with easier immigration Japan is still losing 700,000 annually or about 5% in 10 years. I rather have my money in Vietnam property or S&P 500 and enjoy the beauties of Japan in a rental.
The property bubble in the US and other advanced English-speaking countries hasn't popped yet because of the mass immigration. The house prices in the US would've plunged without DV Lottery program and other easy immigration methods
This problem is largely related to the fact that Japan is a mountainous country, with both population and industry concentrated in a limited narrow plain areas. Nowadays, there are no curious people who would take over farming in mountainous areas where profitability is extremely low, heavy labor and the risk of disasters are high. If this is a highly functional house in the city, the price will rise and it can become an investment.
This is peak infrastructure so enjoy it. As the population [i.e. tax base] declines, the ability to support the infrastructure will disappear. Consider the situation in Italy where you have $1 houses made of stone vs 100 yen houses made of wood. Yet both are in earthquake zones, both are undergoing population collapse due to women rejecting the machismo culture, both are extremely socialistic and have similar temperatures.
Shocking! I thought Japan was under a huge real estate shortage. I recall stories of families taking out multi-generational (100 year) mortgages to buy a home. What a change!
If you tear down the old crappy house, then you have to pay higher taxes on the land. With the old house almost NO TAXES, without the old house HIGH TAXES. The old house keeps the whole property (land - house) in a low tier property tax. Welcome to Japan traps world.
Who judges what the numbers are! We have been sold the ridiculous lie that the world is over populated and now most western countries are complaining about negative growth. Let's not be deceived into thinking the world has too many people! When within two generations the impact of reductive population policies etc will have serious ramifications for future generations!
I agree with you. Focusing on sustainability needs population decline. India has too many. I think Japan can keep going without low quality immigrants from poorer countries.
Even in high population density country like India is facing exodus of young people from rural places leaving behing old parents. This problem is not unique to any particular country. Relax everyone
I’m Australian with an extensive property background and I recently bought 2 lovely and insulated, very livable homes for less than $100K AUD, $62K USD or ¥9.8 Million. I’m located in the mountains at 1100m and surrounded by beautiful nature & fresh air, numerous ski resorts, 14 golf courses, numerous ski resorts, I’m 30 minutes drive from 200+ high end outlet shops, Michelin star restaurants and only one hour from Tokyo by bullet train. It’s just such a beautiful place to live….and prices are slowly rising here. My town is called, ‘KitaKaruizawa’ and there’s literally hundreds of wonderful empty houses and plots for sale surrounding me. If I can help any way, please let me know! NB: I’m not a real estate agent, but would love to see more foreigners living here!
Nice to hear. I see that town is in Nagano. I've watched the YT influences talk up akiyas before seeing this BBC report and want to imagine it could work as they suggest. I'm Cdn, watching this in Hakone and appreciate you inspiring a few of us westerners to give this some thought.
I feel like a lot of commentors didn't get the point, they are abandoned for a reason, as suggest in this video: No inheritance to next gen, beyond repair, little to no services, older earthquake standards, cost more to demolish, hard to immigrate, hot wooden summer & cold winter, west romanticize older homes except Japanese people for good reason, cultural barrier. 9m homes Akyia homes, surely at least few of them is in better 'location' and good enough 'condition' for renovation with $$$ to live in (as some neighbors still lives next door, meaning there is still "some" value in it). Japanese Government problem: How do we revive & *fund* our "aging population" when we have 9m of abandoned homes out of 65m unit in japan (currently 1 in 7 is abandoned). Less about filling-up Akyia those homes and it more about how to "invite people" to the "countryside".
Recently, more and more Westerners are buying vacant houses in Japan, but please keep in mind that these buildings have weak earthquake-resistant structures and will not be able to withstand the Nankai Trough Earthquake or the Great Kanto Earthquake that are expected to occur in the near future. Incidentally, the predicted seismic intensity is 9.1 on the Richter scale.
Ridiculous! There are NOT "9 million abandoned homes ready to be occupied in Japan." The vast majority of these empty houses are in terrible shape, and simply need to be torn down. However, the government has more urgent priorities to deal with . . . an aging and shrinking population being the most obvious. Bad job BBC.
I am so sick of this story. I don't know why anyone would want to live in a house that is falling apart and can kill you as it's not up to earthquake standards. Also not having services, jobs or shops.
You might be emphasizing the negative too much. I bought an akiya. Some repair was required. But it was built well before the economic miracle following the war and so the craftsmanship is such that it - at 140 years - has very nice survived and clearly can survive the many earthquakes that it has experience. The house is a dream. I am very happy about the decision we made. It’s a decent piece of land, gorgeous house with multiple structures (guesthouses), surrounded by rice fields and mountains, 6 minutes by train to downtown Nara. In Canada with what I paid in Japan I couldn’t purchase a one-room bachelor apartment. The money saved stays in my pocket for future use. And I own the house, not the bank. And the cost of living can be very manageable.
@@AlistairAVogan Your exception does not make this story any more accurate. They made a completely untrue assertion, which is irresponsible journalism at its worst.
Yes this. And I can see someone want to live in an historical building in England, when you can renovate it leaving the structure standing… you can not do the same when the antique Japanese house is made in wood. Went to a little town in Kyūshū to see a home 2 weeks ago and from the top to the bottom the wood had to be replaced, not to mention the fact that a couple of meters on one side there was another abandoned house in such a condition that it needed to be fenced off.
Ive lived the in japan for almost 30 years. the main issue with housing and land here is the outdated and unfair taxation system,the climate (its extremely humid in summer and with these older houses being mainly made of wood and the sub standard materials etc uses in the 60's to 80's) they are just rotten husks. also the system is geared for the construction industry (housing actually devalues each year-after 30 years the house is worthless) its entirely the fault of govenment andf vested interested,and a handful of foreigners buying a few choice properties is not to make an ounce of difference
I am Japanese, but even if the Japanese government offered me a house in the countryside for free, or offered me a salary just for living there, I would absolutely refuse.
@@user-co5ri8dp_978 "I don’t know much about the situation in the United States, but I believe the challenges faced by rural Japan are entirely different in nature. One of the biggest problems in rural Japan is the deeply rooted local customs and traditions unique to each region. Those who don’t conform to these customs often face social exclusion. While many rural areas implement policies to attract young people from other parts of Japan.(Many young couples have tried, but many become discouraged and leave the village.) the older generations, who are deeply affected by depopulation, often resent the idea of outsiders moving in and disrupting their traditions. For many of the elderly, preserving their village’s cherished customs and habits takes priority over addressing the worsening depopulation. In other words, in the countryside of Japan, your actions are always monitored and controlled, and you have no freedom. On the other hand, if you are a very sociable person who finds meaning in life by living in unity with a group, the countryside of Japan may be heaven. Of course, there are exceptions. If you build your own house and live in the mountains in the Japanese countryside, where there are no neighbors, you will be able to live freely. You can build a very cheap and spacious house.
They are a homogeneous society. When I visited as an American, it hit me in the face, given the diversity in the US. Japan is a lovely, safe country with very kind people. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
As a Japanese person, I think that excessively high inheritance taxes contribute to the empty house problem in Japan. The inheritance tax is too high, and most Japanese people can't afford to pay it. We have to admit that Japan is in decline.
In this program they refer to abandoned houses getting damaged by earthquakes, but there is also the damage done by typhoons (from Japanese 台風 taifu) which are responsible for many dilapidated structures. I live in Nagasaki where many houses are perched (often precariously) on hillsides, so those structures which have been abandoned, sometimes due to the occupants being too old to make the long trek up numerous steps, are in varying states of disrepair, so naturally they sometimes provide projectiles that can damage neighbouring dwellings during storms to come.
I think the government should provide other social amenities around the remote areas first. secondly, they should open doors for more foreigners especially students to live in those areas as well.
I'm sure the reason why there're a lot of abandoned houses in Japan is property tax for a land with (an abandoned) house is cheaper than the one only for a land itself. Even though you demolish your abandoned house to sell the land and nobody buys it, you should pay a bigger amount of property tax. There's no guarantee that anyone buys your land without the abandoned house. That's why the land in a rural area is sold with an abandoned house, and the price is deducted by the demolishing cost.
Keep in mind many of these areas have traditions that they mandate that the person moving in participate in or else they get harassed. Also, some of the people in these areas will make you feel unwelcome even if you are giving back to the community. The reality is, the people in these areas want young Japanese moving in, not foreigners. But young Japanese couldn't care less about life in rural areas because that isn't where the economic activity is.
Since those houses are given away Free or at little costs , am wondering why is it that no Japanese property developers or Real estate companies are interested?
Perhaps an old school could be repurposed to accommodate the elderly so that they can enjoy social interaction rather than dying alone. The surrounding akiyas could house staff to work and care for the elderly. It would be pleasant for everyone.
This issue might have been a new norm in many countries, including mine. We see people are leaving their own villages in order to settle in crowded cities because of inadequate facilities they need. This is paining to see our villages getting empty slowly and gradually. I wish I could have people in the ereas where we used to enjoy the chirping of birds, beating of goats and sheep, bellowing of cows, and especially the breezing and fresh air, and the fresh and cold spring --water.
I think there is something not being mentioned in this story. The Japanese can be extremely xenophobic. It is nearly impossible to get Japanese citizenship, even if you are a first generation descendant from another country. I'm not sure how many people would be willing to buy a home in a distant, earthquake-prone country without the guarantee of citizenship or just reliable residency status.
@@heythave Yes, at the very least. Though, any sensible industrialized country would be going far beyond that...to recruiting citizenship-oriented, younger workers with plans for family. As much flak as Justin Trudeau has taken for doing this in Canada, its going to keep them economically viable. They are nowhere near as bad off as Japan.
Ditto, my friend. Though, your word "sensible" shouldn't be taken for granted. It makes plenty of sense for Italy, Germany, Greece, Japan, the U.S. and many other nations to be actively recruiting citizens or temporary workers to compensate for declining populations, or workforce deficits. Unfortunately, the problem seems universal: racism and xenophobia. The Canadian system is so well designed and it is both rational and reasonable. They give overwhelming preference to any person who can come in and become a fully-participating, fully-employed, tax-paying citizen IMMEDIATELY. If you use that rubric, then there is simply no reason not to let people in.
@@shyamdevadas6099 日本人は人種差別の気持ちは少ない方だと思う。 日本人は和を重んじてて、それを小さいときから周囲に教え込まれます。 それが今の町の清潔さと治安の良さです。 でも節度を重んじない外国人が日本の和を乱す行動は心のなかで軽蔑します。 それは人種差別ではなく批判です。 自分勝手に出来ないからと自分の行動に責任を持つ日本人を嫌うのは違うと思いますね。 I think Japanese people are less inclined to feel racism. Japanese people value harmony, and this is instilled in them from the time they are small. That is the reason for the cleanliness and safety of the town today. But when foreigners who do not respect moderation act in a way that disturbs the harmony of Japan, I despise them in my heart. That is not racism, but criticism. I think it is different to dislike Japanese people who take responsibility for their own actions because they cannot be selfish.
Also, homes are not considered appreciating assets in Japan. They are aging liabilities that’ll cost you time and money to maintain. It’s simply easier to rent in Japan.
@@MaryAmesMitchell I’m italian and it’s my eleventh years living in Japan. No, it is not like Italy. Here the country side is far, really far away. In Italy you can drive from what you call country side to a town or a little town in 15 minutes and you will find villages in the middle, probably trattoria, wineries, churches, historic ruins, or maybe just nature but you will be near to a town. Here the country side (I’m not talking of Nara or other known little tourist city) is where you cannot even seen people walking on the street, and I’m not sure what kind of work future we can talk about… I’m not saying it’s easier in Italy, but at least the abandoned houses are not made in wood, often rotten over the years. Yeah, you probably have to renovate anyway in Italy, but here most of it need to be demolished (wood floor deteriorate quickly) and without a doubt, a lot of money and time are needed. And always if you are ok to live isolated, maybe with another abandoned house on a side (I visited one just two weeks ago).
You do not see abandoned properties here in California. Not in San Francisco, not in Los Angeles, not in Long Beach. You do not see abandoned homes in New York or London. This is very interesting to me.
They don't knock them down because 'it is intrinsic value' and 'it doesn't lie any longer in agriculture', so its just kept. Empty homes become a fire risk, from electrical or gas connections. Seen that happen in my community. Animal life gets in and destroys it too.
A tiny number of TH-camrs and Instagramers may have bought homes in Japan, but it's nowhere near a significant enough trend to have any economic or social impact - even the 2nd guy they interview here is clearly living in Japan with a Japanese spouse, which isn't the same thing. It's nothing like the Italian €1 property scheme for instance.
Inheritance tax is the main killer. In order to inherit the house, one has to pay a hefty amount before they could do so. This is just step 1. Usually these houses are old and dilapidated so it is almost impossible to live in without a proper renovation. With wages so low, how many can really afford to do these? Rent or even buying a new property would make a whole lot more sense.
Thank you for this insight into Japanese life. l live in Madeira. However before I moved to Madeira, l lived for twenty or so years in Algarv, where the situation to that of Japan Existed, and probably still exists.. I am English from the south of England. We moved to Algarve mid 1980 when my husband retired. He was a Civil engineer, and we renovated an old Quinta (farmhouse)..We relocated to Madeira 2004.. My husband died in 2016, and I continue to live in Madeira. .Thank you BBC. ,most interesting. Valerie. (now 83).
There are many rural areas that are about 30 minutes by train from the central cities of Osaka and Kyoto. Nara is famous as a rural residential area in the Kinki region, and many Japanese people live there as a commuter area.
I think the quality of the houses is also an important issue that were built during post-war. This kind of the buildings used very cheap quality of the materials that not tolerance of earthquake. Because of rapidly increasing economic during 1950' to 1970', the construction progressed without any long term thinking to respond to the needs of gaining population. After that, there are four times changing a law of construction for against the earthquake to correspond each giant incidence of the earthquake. So, old houses are simply dangerous which are with old standard of the law, if someone renovated interior, this is not drastic function of anti-earthquake.
With declining and aging population, there really is no point trying to maintain or restore all the abandoned houses especially in the rural areas. Japan should use this as opportunity to consolidate population to smaller number of cities not thousands of small towns scattered everywhere like current
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Japan is an earthquake-prone country, so old houses like those in other countries are dangerous and cannot be used. New earthquake-resistant houses must be constantly built.
Since December of last year, a new law called the Special Measures Act for Vacant Houses, etc. has been enacted, and old houses are being demolished one after another.
I am from Japan. You
are absolutely correct. Such kind of old Japanese house is not so comfortable at all..in terms of earthquake the bulidings after 1985 comply the construction regulation but the older house don't.
Yeah, as for Chahnah they tell us that the "root cause" for all the crisis was the "cahmunist pardy". Hm.🤔So -- WHO or WHAT was the "root cause" for ALL THE CRISIS in Japan??🙄
After listening to this video, I can tell you, as a very long-time resident, there are a lot of negatives to living in the smaller village areas. There is no social life. No easy in-person shopping, no schools in the area, etc. I met a friend who owns his own business in a countryside setting but close to a big city. He and his wife are not Japanese but long-term residents like me. He said they are doing okay due to his and his wife's high-level Japanese language ability, and the neighbors are friendly. The local school has 4 kids and is likely to die out soon. He has to commute to Tokyo for work with an over 90-minute one-way journey. He has bought a bunch of land around him for next to nothing because the village is dying out, too.
People who look at Japan as a cheap alternative to buying a home must realize many things; they won't be able to re-sell the property since it doesn't appreciate, the government limits the number of days a temporary accommodation can accept guests (like Airbnb), the home is likely to be old and not suitable for living due to mold and structural age (requires money to renovate), and of course, there is the language barrier. In the end, if you are willing to renovate yourself and budget the right amount, you could have an acceptable home to live in, but you will never recoup your investment. Don't believe those social media people when they are highlighting the low cost of homes; there are a lot of extra costs, both financially and mentally, to buying an abandoned home here.
they make video to earn few dollars to living if aykia renovation had any profit there wasnot 10 million of them this sweden guy made video just make $2 more hahaha and no tourist will go countryside on airbnb listing .
I say if you want to do it listen to this advice but don’t let it scare… that’s this person reality not yours.
What scares me away is visa and residency permits. They are impossible to tackle. As a foreigner you can only stay in a country for 180 days cumulative, and allowed 2 entries per year. As a non resident you are not allowed to own a car. That's a huge hindrance for living in the rural areas as they have limited transportation options.
Contacted that Anton guy. He won't even talk to you for free (one very polite formal pre-registered e-mail and then a consultation fee). He is businessman alright. Besides his situation is different, he is a resident. A non residence can only operate Airbnb on weekends and you'll have hell of a time to register them. And to rent out a house good luck to find the tenants!
I don't mind the absence of social life in a half deserted village with friendly neighbors if I could have a car and a farmers for food nearby. But I really would love to have a permanent residency if I buy a house.
PS Is there still no central heating there, even in a newly built houses? Another puzzle to me.
Sounds like japan has not solved their growth problem by immigration like other developed countries like Canada. How hard is it to move to japan, get a job and live. Are they welcoming non-Japanese people. There are millions of people out there that would love to move to japan to live a simple life if they can do it legally. Larry
@@leapnlarry Canada hasn't "solved" anything by allowing unlimited immigration. They have caused themselves many more social and economic problems instead. Try searching "Canadian immigration crisis" if you want to learn the truth about this topic.
I have been to many of these abandoned towns, although there are many empty houses available there are no services so it is difficult to live there.
Why anyone interested in Japan because they are lonely anyways
well said, location is very important , it is inconvenient and sometime frustrating just to drive hours to the nearest supermart or to see a doctor
Same in every rural area in many countries. When I see the decline of my childhood district it makes me very sad. But lack of jobs and poor infrastructure is driving so many people to the crowded urban areas. I wish I could go back home.
Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service 16.11.24 1415pm i need a place to live. maybe i go live in japan?
"Lack of jobs" Lol
There's actually a lot of jobs in the country side, you just don't want to do that kind of "Jobs", especially the women.
@@maskassmario321 Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service 19.11.24 0813am depends what jobs... i dont know much about the agrarian side to Japanese life.. obviously they grow crops and the like..? for all the blether the sit behind a computer screen scenario isn't all it's cracked up to be, either.....
@@maskassmario321 what do you think of the term "bullshit jobs"
Not true. Plenty of countries, like mine, have thriving rural areas. Nobody is abandoning villages and moving to the city here in Belgium, on the contrary. Here people often ‘flee’ to the countryside once they have kids.
Japanese here. There are many abondoned houses in Japan because most people in Japan don't want to buy an abondoned old house with lots of leftovers as it needs lots of work and money to clean up and repair the house. When a house is abondoned for some reason, the owner often can't sell it because the owner doesn't have enough money to renovate the house or to demolish the house to clear the land to sell it. And most abondoned houses in the suburbs or countryside have poor living conditions.
Well that’s what was about the interview
確かに、日本では多くの人が古い家を買いたがらない傾向がありますね。文化的に「新しいもの」を好む傾向や、清潔感と効率性を重視する価値観が影響しているように思います。さらに、耐震基準の変更や災害リスクも、新しい家を建てる動機となっているのでしょう。
しかし、空き家が900万棟以上もある中で、これらの家を活用しないのは大きな損失ではないでしょうか。古い家には確かに手間がかかりますが、リフォームや地域資源を活用することで、新しい可能性を生み出せるかもしれません。
例えば、地方の空き家を活用して、田舎暮らしを始めたい家族や、事業を立ち上げたい起業家、または日本文化を体験したい外国人に提供することが考えられます。古い家の再生は、地域活性化や新しいライフスタイルの提案につながる可能性があります。
皆さんはどう思いますか？空き家の魅力を再発見し、積極的に活用する文化が広がることは、日本の未来にとって良い方向性だと思いませんか？
@@MOVE2JAPAN 少子高齢化が進む日本では、実際には新築が売れなくなっており、中古住宅の内装を新しく修理して売っているのが実情です。 要するに、修理する費用を捻出できない売り物件のうち、値段を下げられない物件や立地条件が悪い物件が売れなくて空き家になっているのです。
海外にいけば分かりますが、北米やオーストラリアでは安い住宅が足りなくなって困っています。 そういう理由で日本の空き家問題が話題になっていますが、日本には、立地条件が悪く、しかも修理に多額の費用がかかる空き家を買いたくないという「現実的な経済問題」があるのです。 大部分の人たちは、空き家を買いません。
イタリアなども同じ問題を抱えており、もはや現地のイタリアでは古い空き家を買う人がおらず、外国人富裕層がそういう風情のある空き家を買っている状況です。
… I feel pity and sad for deplorable situations in Japan, a country that once i admired so much, Japan was screwed by American geopolitics , USA planted Japanese politics with imaginary enemies thus focus on purchasing of weapons which lead to high cost of living as taxpayers money were spent on military equipment and hardwares , which indirectly impacted Japanese unable to afford decent living conditions
@@tokaitrading8335 The main reasons for Japan's seeming economic decline are the hollowing out of domestic industry due to the internationalization of export industries and the decrease in domestic demand due to the declining birthrate and aging population. This is also the reason why the number of vacant houses in Japan is increasing.
However, it cannot be said that the Japanese people have become poorer. Japanese are not experiencing the housing crisis that is occurring in other developed countries, and the quality of life has not declined that much.
I have been to Nagoro. While it is a beautiful area, it is very remote and there are no shops nearby. I can totally understand why young people would not want to live there.
property tax in Japan sucks. It’s not worth owning a land and house where villages and towns are disappearing due to depopulation. Your left with an asset you can’t get rid because nobody is going to buy how ever cheap it is.
And there are many instances that people pay for millions of yen to give away or dump their land. That’s not even free, but they pay you for buying!. These negative properties are often called 負動産. Don’t buy in to it and pay the agents. It’s often a trap.
@@myaopanNo, sort of. The property tax in Japan can negligible. My home is in the countryside according to tax law and the average Japanese person. I live six minutes to downtown Nara. The tax we pay is nothing.
@@AlistairAVogan in your case it seems its still in a fairly convenient location where it’s probably easier to resell if you want to be out. I’m talking about more rural areas where the population is really declining and young people leave because there’s not much of a chance to make a living nor the proper infrastructure anymore. How about that kind of land where you can’t resell. (And you are still paying property tax on it no matter how cheap the price maybe) There’s no giving away to relatives or friends or governments. You’re stuck with it and this is literally why the property are dead cheap. There’s a reason for it.
@@myaopan You are right. My location is convenient, and there are many like it. Some in my neighborhood. …Your response to @1412Bunny is probably a non sequitor or, don’t you think? They have mentioned that they can understand that living where cities and towns are disappearing due to depopulation - in the countryside - would be unattractive for young people because, essentially, nothing is there. And you have mentioned how “housing tax sucks”. But it doesn’t address this comment, and in the context of their comment yours isn’t correct. Why? Because housing tax in the countryside, and Nagoro, is/would negligible.
But more importantly, the Japanese categorize/conceptualize land “outside” the the city often as ‘rural’, ‘countryside’, ‘inaka’. It is a significant. What is countryside to most Japanese is just over a line, or the next train stop. It isn’t what non Japanese conceptualize as ‘the country’. There is an argument to be built that housing tax is crazy, but the opposite argument can exist. Still, when you do the math, even when the housing tax is “crazy” it may still be a much better option than paying off a housing loan in a western country, especially after a bubble bursts.
Yes. Do not buy a Japanese house to flip it for profit. This is not how the housing market has worked, traditionally, in Japan.
@@AlistairAVogan You can only save your property tax if you have a house with it. That is why many of us just leave houses empty instead of making it flat in this country.
I have lived here for 30 years. I appreciate the BBC trying to wrap their heads around this but the fact is that most of these "homes" are just shacks that no one from overseas would want to live it. Costs of renovating are crazy here. In the first clip you saw a guy who obviously did structural work to his house. Oh my!!! five times more expensive than actually just bulldozing it down and putting up a new one. LANGUAGE!! is a huge barrier. Countryside towns are hugely conservative. Even Tokyo people are considered "outsiders/ foreigners" . You have to think of Japan as if it were Europe. You can travel over a mountain range to the next town and find the language is completely different. I have been in situations where the people won't even say hello to you. Generally the people in Japan are wonderful but just like back home, you have to understand that the countryside has its own culture. You can't just "drop in" and buy a house here. It is a complex situation and thinking that you can just blow in on a flight and pick up a home is a huge stupid mistake.
Nagoro sounds like a perfect place for someone who wants to live off grid and embrace farming activities!
Nagoro is in a narrow valley from the looks of it; very often farming land is quite apart from where houses are built, and in mountainous areas, there isn't enough flat land to farm. Where there is flat land, it's almost all given over to cities and farming.
買うのは簡単だが売るのが難しい。
買い手が見つからず売ることが出来ず税金を払い続けなくてはならない。
@@土屋ナナare you Japanese? How do you feel about foreigners moving into your country? Are you worried your culture will be lost?
There are abandoned houses all over the world, in rural areas. Spain. France, Italy, all over. Young people move to big cities and they don’t want to go back to their villas.
But there are also a lot of foreigners buying abandoned places in Spain, Italy, etc, and renovating them.
As this report, houses over 30 years have little value in Japan. 「売地・上物あり」：Land for sale with an old house. It means you have to spend more money to demolish it before you can use the land. Yes, renovations are possible but not cheap, not easy. A middleclass Japanese I am.
I will be visiting Japan. Do you know of an akiya that is for sale in your neighborhood?
Many many vacant houses here and there. Check agents who introduce some renovated akiyas for foreigners on youtube. It will be a lot of fun.
And free. 👍
@@heythave Just be careful with the landlords who allow you to renovate their properties and kick you out of the house when you finish renovation.
@@norikosato7823 I would only consider renovating a house that I own, not a rental.
In my country house beyond 100 years still standing
One of the challenges is finding employment or a revenue source if you move here. In small villages, it can be very hard to earn a living and to use the house for tourism, is also difficult due to the lack of tourists. That said, I have renovated houses and sold them with a good profit because I did the work myself. If I had to hire a contractor, i couldn't make a profit. I have documented everything on TH-cam. I'm now working on my 3rd house but this time, I'm not selling it. It was feasible because I live in a town of about 100,000 people. If you search on TH-cam, you'll find hundreds of people renovating houses. Anton turned it into a business, that's great.
exactly, without government intervention no one esp young people would move there. one option is to encourage ecotourism taking into account the uniqueness of each town?
globe staying out of nation on thier own keeping tradition of extra low %'s of non native culture could go far in allowing destructive for nature industrial era houseing a going by the wayside and also allow will of people steady reductions in those liveing there a win win for land and water
What's your TH-cam channel name?
The worst part is the people working hardest are getting the least remuneration for their efforts and then shamed in the media for not taking more hours, more work despite the poverty wages. 40% of people in work need state support. That’s a reflection of greed not poor work ethics by working people. This is being done by design, by greed.
I agree with you and I believe that the secret to financial stability is having the right investment ideas to enable you earn more money, I don’t know who agrees with me but either way I recommend either real estate and stocks..
I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards early retirement and financial freedom, but since covid outbreak, the economy so far has caused my portfolio to underperform, do I keep contributing to my 401k or look at alternative sectors to meet my goals?
Many people often underestimate the effectiveness of a financial specialist in planning for retirement. If I could advise you, you should seek the help of a financial specialist. For the record, working with one has been the best for my finances...
@@kaylat63 How can one find a verifiable financial planner? I would not mind looking up the professional that helped you. I will be retiring in two years and I might need some management on my much larger portfolio. Don't want to take any chances.
*Mr Gary Mason Brooks* a highly respected figure in his field. I suggest delving deeper into his credentials, as he possesses extensive experience and serves as a valuable resource for individuals seeking guidance in navigating the financial market.
I’m Japanese living in Japan. People don’t wanna live in the countryside because there is often a strong pressure to conform to the local rules. Neighbours are quietly observing you all the time and spread rumours based on their own understanding/misunderstanding of your behaviours. Even if you behave yourself, you are still an outsider forever even after living there for a few decades. Rigid hierarchies exist in the countryside and local powerful families can often get away with anything. If you can’t get along with the powerful figures you should leave the village before your house catches suspicious fire.
At the end of the day, it’s the people around you that make your life worthwhile, not the house. That’s my point.
Almost seems a bit like southern Germany XD I get your point completely.
That word 'wanna' isn't in the English language.
@@LL-vk9zc Still it made its way into the Oxford and Webster dictionary. Strange, huh.
@@LL-vk9zc Sorry, my English comprehension level is so low that I’m afraid I cannot see how your point is related to my topic. I “wanna” extend my sincere apologies…
BBC this is one bad video definitely spreading misinformation….1. No of Akiya (empty houses) is not that high n most are unliveable or unrepairable, 2. Inheritance Tax is very high in Japan & complicated, which is another reason next gen doesn’t wanna get those properties, hence adding to more Akiyas (totally Japanese government failure), 3. Even living owners who move to another locations don’t demolish homes n just keep land, reason, the yearly tax for just keeping land is 6 times higher !!! Yes 6 times, so people prefer to leave the rotting buildings rather than paying more tax. Everything that shines ain’t gold baby, Tiktokers or so called influencers share contents that gives them more like, so all the truth isn’t shared
Totally agreed, this piece is not even scratching the surface. Speaking only to a TikToker (a Westerner at that), instead of mentioning the country's property tax, is sheer laziness.
@@trepak2952 and she really had nothing of substance to say, they could have spoken to experts
Exactly.
私は東京から車で2時間半のところに住んでいるのだけど、この半島はとても保守的で2~30年前の年寄りは息子が帰ってきて農業やってくれるそう言って他人に土地を貸さなかった。そして今は孫が帰ってきて農業をやってくれると言ってた他人に土地を貸さない。これは私の解釈では宗教観の問題で土地と先祖は命より重要という観念によるものじゃないかと思っている。そして彼らは気づいた時には寿命を迎える。より具体的に言うと農作業に適した土地を貸さないのでは無く、農作業に適していない荒れ果てた斜面ですら他人に貸したがらない老人は凄く多い。だから彼らにとって家を売って息子や娘のいる都市部で暮らすという選択肢はそもそもない。
This is actually serious. My friend Kenji-san would clean his passed away relation's tombstones. This is a filial task of the eldest child. No-one to do that anymore. We are just all stardust floating in an infinity of an ever-expanding universe.
@@kryts27 We are much more amazing than that.
田舎はどこもそんなもんです。余所者を受け付けません。
My family is one of those 3 millions who visited Japan this year. We rented an AirBNb in a reasonable price at the heart of Tokyo!
Indeed, when we go to supermarkets and see people doing constructions, most of the workers are not Japanese at all.
Here in Taiwan, we also have population problem but it’s quite the opposite, construction companies are building apartments and condominiums and most of the time, units are sold already even before the building construction starts. O heard they call it investment for the future but I really wonder who will rent and live if population doesn’t increase.
I wouldn't use AirBNb in Japan because voyeurism is a rampant crime in this country.
While violent sexual crimes are not so common you quite often hear somebody arrested for setting up a hidden camera in places like public bathrooms and rocker-rooms in schools.
I am pretty sure some Japanese folks are hosting their home just for this purpose.
lived in Japan for 30 years - still do. Wife is from a remote village. Rural japan is not a place you want to live. Limited services, everything is closed, and very little opportunity to meet people even if you speak Japan. Most of these abandoned houses are beyond repair. Trust me, it becomes depressing after a while when everything is old and falling apart and there are really only older people around. The REAL STORY is that you can buy a nice house near major city centers for under 500,000 US dollars. Try doing that in Canada, UK, Australia and so forth.
Average Tokyo salary is 5m JPY about 417k/mo. A 400k GBP mortgage in the UK will take 80% of that salary, or 60% of a 400k CAD mortgage in Canada (both 25 year terms, 5% interest). So yes, in absolute terms Japanese big cities are cheap vs global equivalents but not in relative terms.
@@szurketaltos2693 You can buy a nice family house 20 minutes from the center of Yokohama, for example, for about 420,000 dollars - even less, depending on how far from a station you are comfortable with - no biggie if you drive. You cannot buy 'anything family' 20 minutes from the center of Vancouver or any major city in Canada for that price. 2 million plus to get you started for what are also Akiya.
@@jasonmoser8957 Vancouver is insane, but
@@jasonmoser8957 Vancouver is insane, but average home prices are 1.2m CAD - about 3x, vs about 2.5x average salary for Tokyo. Yes, single family houses will probably be more on average. But the number one thing that makes buying in Japan so much cheaper is the interest rate, not the principal.
I see your point exactly about being in the middle of nowhere very very very very depressing and that is understandable but the profile of tourists coming to stay for 2 to 3 months is a good profile of prospective buyers. I like to recall that James bond movie back in the '60s you know with Sean Connery and they're bombing around in some little Japanese sports car along the coast with a beautiful ocean... yeah, get it? This is what people want you can find close to the coast Japan is basically close to the ocean wherever you are so you can find a nice little house manageable you know maybe one story house that is still very good condition and it's not going to come down crashing on your head even with an extreme or I should say except for an extreme earthquake. What people need is a significant other someone devoted to them and someone who wants to go hiking or swimming or riding little moped around some little Island these kinds of people tourists don't care about making friends there are tourists they're here to spend time together going out for cheap eats- this is an important thing people don't realize there are many many cheap eats in Japan and there are many cities that are large enough and have suburban populations that support infrastructure. Right we're talking about tax base and you know it's not all that depressing as far as demographics generally speaking there are many kids and still many schools. Sure many schools closed down or merged their student populations but generally there is a shortage of teachers in Japan because many people retire or they don't work I they get married and become housewives for example anyway I'm digressing
As a Japanese architect working in Europe, the case of second house bought by foreigners doesn’t sound working well. It because normally, you need to maintain housing against humidity, piled snow and this sort of daily works. Otherwise the house is gonna be decayed soon even if you don’t get any disasters. Comparing to European housing, it’s much more difficult to just maintain housings in Japan especially in countryside close to mountains. I’m not trying to exclude foreigners.
If you can live in there not for a second house, I think it would be super nice :)
yeah, but we all want second houses lol. very few people want to live in the countryside for longer than a month or two each year, especially if there are no services, not many people to interact with, etc. If so many villages are going to die by 2038, I think it's inevitable and probably better to allow people to more easily acquire countryside vacation homes, and they become responsible of course for maintenance.
I am Japanese and I handled 2 abandoned properties inherited from the family members. First of all, too many stuff inside the house usually, to trash or demolish would be costly. After demolishing the house, the property tax would jump up to 5x to 6x, so they just keep them as is.
We restore ancient Japanese houses, mainly in Kyoto. Here’s the actual situation: 1. The combination of low birthrates and the migration from rural to urban areas means the rural decline is very very rapid but ONLY in in unpopular areas. Want to be on the beach? You pay UK prices.
2. There are no abandoned houses in places like central Tokyo or Kyoto. There are UNUSED houses, which is very very different. Try and buy them and you pay normal prices.
In other words, unless you want to be where nobody wants to live, in an unlivable house, with nobody around to repair it for you, no schools and shops, then go ahead and buy an akiya.
Yeah, but that's in those cities where its central instead of outskirts of the cities, though. You can easily find 100k homes in Sapporo and other non-major cities around the country. You can even go to Nara and then travel to Osaka with a car or train in less than an hour.
@ Outskirts of Sapporo, sure. Ditto dreary, half empty suburbs of Nara etc. And if that’s what you like, go for it 👍
My wife’s family just sold their home west of Osaka. The closing price was close to $600K in USD. I assume the purchasers will tear it down and build something new and sell for a profit. Where I live expect to pay $1 million and up, way up. I have been a visitor to Japan since 1983 and retired here over 2 years ago. Yesterday I was able to order a cup of coffee at a convenience store without messing up language wise for the first time, so I am making progress. Without my wife who grew up in the area, I would not survive more than a couple weeks here. I have an Australian friend in another area who is fluent in Japanese, he is over 50 and cannot secure any kind of employment. Fortunately he has money so he is okay, but he wanted to work as he enjoys it. Like many of my other foreign friends who live in Japan, they do not live here during the summer or winter because it’s uncomfortable. I have grown used to it, although a couple during the summer I had close calls with heat walking home. If I were to collapse, most likely no one would stop to help me, as wonderful as the Japanese people are, it’s just not what they do in my opinion. My point here is that buying a worthless akyia renovating it on your own and moving here is definitely not for everyone.
Where can I find info about these home, i am looking for home in Chiba, ibaraki, Saitama rural area
私は日本の九州の田舎の方に住んでいます。田舎の方には空き家はたくさんあります。そして田舎の方でそこまで大きくない家であれば1000万円あれば購入とリノベーションも出来ると思います。私の親戚が亡くなった後引取り手のないその家を査定してもらったら販売価格500万でした。最近は欧米では住宅価格が上昇して手に入らないと聞きますので外国人にとっては興味をそそられる話だと思いますが、日本の田舎は排他的で封建的な部分が色濃く残っている場所でもあるので言葉の分からない人が隣人になるのを好まないところがあると思います。なので日本で家を買ってみたい人は最低限日本語ができる人でないと難しいのではないかと思います。
廃村のようになってしまったところなら排他的なコミュニティーの問題はなさそうな気もします
どこの国の田舎だって、現地語を覚えなければ暮らしづらいでしょう
si tenes toda la razon
@@toyoashihara6242日本ほどじゃないよ、ほとんどの国は同じ国ですら複数言語があって文化も言語も違ったりするし、ちょっと走れば陸続きで違う国になるし
日本は圧倒的に排他的だよ、俺はそれが良いところの一つだと思うけど
コレは湯田屋グローバリストBBCが日本文化破壊目的で世界に発信しています。日本に外国人を大量に流入させて多民族国家にして最終的に中国と同じユダヤの監視下に置き日本を乗っ取る為の工作活動です。
We bought our akiya a few years ago. I love it so much. My husband and I are in our 40s, and we are the young ones. =)
Congratulations! We did the same. We are very happy with our decision. It has freed up any money we would have sunk into real estate in Canada.
As your programme pointed out, the Akiya problem is closely linked to the population ageing, but another fact behind it is that many young women in the countryside are unlikely to return home once they leave to study or work in a big city like Tokyo.
A home in Japan has no value after 25 years despite being in good shape. The average age of a home is only 38 years. Many opportunities for good carpenters to fix the homes. These empty homes often come with back taxes and farming requirements.
This isn’t unique to Japan, rapid urbanization and declining fertility. This is happening to varying degrees from the USA, Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia and many others. Japan is just early to this.
The US population will likely continue growing throughout all the 21st century; The UK and France will likely sustain their populations throughout. Japan and the other East Asian nations are indeed different, because their populations will fall. It's the double edged sword of being unfriendly to immigration.
@@thomHDbut still we don’t want foreigners!
@thomHD really depends how the immigration story goes from here. The backlash to an amount of immigration that keeps a reasonable growth rate (status quo) is huge.
@@szurketaltos2693 Japan's probably going to slip from 2nd wealthiest country in the world to 10th or so within our lifetimes. A big reason it's still where it is now is because it's debt is 260% of GDP (and the public don't protest it) - they basically chose debt over immigration. I actually think in 2050 the situation in East Asian economies will be so bad that immigration in the West will look vindicated, in spite of the problems it produces.
@@thomHD
Yes, no immigration will kill those east Asian economies unless automation gets much better soon -- and given that "AI" is not remotely close to GAI and is in fact stalling out, I wouldn't bet on automation saving them or indeed the West if the anti immigration turn causes immigration to drastically slow.
Lots of silly negativity here. Yes. You might be emphasizing the negative too much. I bought an akiya. Some repair was required. But it was built well before the economic miracle following the war and so the craftsmanship is such that it - at 140 years - has very nicely survived and clearly can survive the many earthquakes that it has experience. 9 of course to be safe some additional alliterations will be made.) The house is a dream. I am very happy about the decision we made. It’s a decent piece of land, gorgeous house with multiple structures (guesthouses), surrounded by rice fields and mountains, 6 minutes by train to downtown Nara. In Canada with what I paid in Japan I couldn’t purchase a one-room bachelor apartment. The money saved stays in my pocket for future use. And I own the house, not the bank. And the cost of living can be very manageable.
I thought about buying one but decided not to. It is very cheap but so is rental. I can easily rent a nice house with 3 bedrooms for jpy 100,000. Kyoto has tons of old houses that foreigners bought and remodel for airbnb. Not sure if the return is good as I checked on google map there are so many to choose so the occupancy rate might not be as expected. If the locals are not buying I doubt the foreign buyers make up enough demand. Even with easier immigration Japan is still losing 700,000 annually or about 5% in 10 years. I rather have my money in Vietnam property or S&P 500 and enjoy the beauties of Japan in a rental.
Yeah but Japanese culture is bizarre and just inward
@@cd7707a smart. Vietnam is great.
@@Hay8137g There are some hurdles.
NARA is the best.
Strange, people work so hard to own property, but at the end of it, it is not worth much!
so it finally reveals itself real estate is a trap.
The property bubble in the US and other advanced English-speaking countries hasn't popped yet because of the mass immigration. The house prices in the US would've plunged without DV Lottery program and other easy immigration methods
This problem is largely related to the fact that Japan is a mountainous country, with both population and industry concentrated in a limited narrow plain areas.
Nowadays, there are no curious people who would take over farming in mountainous areas where profitability is extremely low, heavy labor and the risk of disasters are high.
If this is a highly functional house in the city, the price will rise and it can become an investment.
Japan has a fantastic infrastructure that even the rural areas are very accessible (not to mention the scenery and culture in the countryside)
This is peak infrastructure so enjoy it. As the population [i.e. tax base] declines, the ability to support the infrastructure will disappear.
Consider the situation in Italy where you have $1 houses made of stone vs 100 yen houses made of wood. Yet both are in earthquake zones, both are undergoing population collapse due to women rejecting the machismo culture, both are extremely socialistic and have similar temperatures.
Shocking! I thought Japan was under a huge real estate shortage. I recall stories of families taking out multi-generational (100 year) mortgages to buy a home. What a change!
The energy between these two is epic
If you tear down the old crappy house, then you have to pay higher taxes on the land. With the old house almost NO TAXES, without the old house HIGH TAXES. The old house keeps the whole property (land - house) in a low tier property tax. Welcome to Japan traps world.
didnt realise that, 👍 👍
ahh that's smart. just like how people faking it to a hood neighborhood and not cleaning up so property prices stay low.
bulls eye.
I AM GRATEFUL FOR EMBRACING ALL THE VOCABULARY THANK YOU
Aren’t there enough people in this world? Seems a peaceful decline in population is not a crisis and in fact may have positive aspects to it.
Who judges what the numbers are! We have been sold the ridiculous lie that the world is over populated and now most western countries are complaining about negative growth. Let's not be deceived into thinking the world has too many people! When within two generations the impact of reductive population policies etc will have serious ramifications for future generations!
I agree with you. Focusing on sustainability needs population decline. India has too many. I think Japan can keep going without low quality immigrants from poorer countries.
The morons in the media disagree.
@@h_a_aroelike AI people
was going to say about the same thing, good statement.
Even in high population density country like India is facing exodus of young people from rural places leaving behing old parents. This problem is not unique to any particular country. Relax everyone
I’m Australian with an extensive property background and I recently bought 2 lovely and insulated, very livable homes for less than $100K AUD, $62K USD or ¥9.8 Million. I’m located in the mountains at 1100m and surrounded by beautiful nature & fresh air, numerous ski resorts, 14 golf courses, numerous ski resorts, I’m 30 minutes drive from 200+ high end outlet shops, Michelin star restaurants and only one hour from Tokyo by bullet train. It’s just such a beautiful place to live….and prices are slowly rising here. My town is called, ‘KitaKaruizawa’ and there’s literally hundreds of wonderful empty houses and plots for sale surrounding me. If I can help any way, please let me know! NB: I’m not a real estate agent, but would love to see more foreigners living here!
Solid life choices… Waving hello from Okayama
🎉🎉very nice
Nice to hear. I see that town is in Nagano. I've watched the YT influences talk up akiyas before seeing this BBC report and want to imagine it could work as they suggest. I'm Cdn, watching this in Hakone and appreciate you inspiring a few of us westerners to give this some thought.
Thank you so much. It was very interesting and unknown to me ❤
I feel like a lot of commentors didn't get the point, they are abandoned for a reason, as suggest in this video:
No inheritance to next gen, beyond repair, little to no services, older earthquake standards, cost more to demolish, hard to immigrate, hot wooden summer & cold winter, west romanticize older homes except Japanese people for good reason, cultural barrier.
9m homes Akyia homes, surely at least few of them is in better 'location' and good enough 'condition' for renovation with $$$ to live in (as some neighbors still lives next door, meaning there is still "some" value in it).
Japanese Government problem:
How do we revive & *fund* our "aging population" when we have 9m of abandoned homes out of 65m unit in japan (currently 1 in 7 is abandoned).
Less about filling-up Akyia those homes and it more about how to "invite people" to the "countryside".
Americans and west are desperate
one of the best comment here 👍 👍
Recently, more and more Westerners are buying vacant houses in Japan, but please keep in mind that these buildings have weak earthquake-resistant structures and will not be able to withstand the Nankai Trough Earthquake or the Great Kanto Earthquake that are expected to occur in the near future.
Incidentally, the predicted seismic intensity is 9.1 on the Richter scale.
Ridiculous! There are NOT "9 million abandoned homes ready to be occupied in Japan." The vast majority of these empty houses are in terrible shape, and simply need to be torn down. However, the government has more urgent priorities to deal with . . . an aging and shrinking population being the most obvious. Bad job BBC.
I am so sick of this story. I don't know why anyone would want to live in a house that is falling apart and can kill you as it's not up to earthquake standards. Also not having services, jobs or shops.
You might be emphasizing the negative too much. I bought an akiya. Some repair was required. But it was built well before the economic miracle following the war and so the craftsmanship is such that it - at 140 years - has very nice survived and clearly can survive the many earthquakes that it has experience. The house is a dream. I am very happy about the decision we made. It’s a decent piece of land, gorgeous house with multiple structures (guesthouses), surrounded by rice fields and mountains, 6 minutes by train to downtown Nara. In Canada with what I paid in Japan I couldn’t purchase a one-room bachelor apartment. The money saved stays in my pocket for future use. And I own the house, not the bank. And the cost of living can be very manageable.
@@AlistairAVogan Your exception does not make this story any more accurate. They made a completely untrue assertion, which is irresponsible journalism at its worst.
Yes this. And I can see someone want to live in an historical building in England, when you can renovate it leaving the structure standing… you can not do the same when the antique Japanese house is made in wood. Went to a little town in Kyūshū to see a home 2 weeks ago and from the top to the bottom the wood had to be replaced, not to mention the fact that a couple of meters on one side there was another abandoned house in such a condition that it needed to be fenced off.
@@patrickfitzgerald2861bro it's BBC. Calm down.
meanwhile in the Philippines(my b3loved country) we have 6m housing backlogs(as of 2022) and the need is rising .
If you put the address in Amazon and the message says we don't deliver there then don't move there.
5:44 " Its almost like homes die when people die ". This hit hard.
We love living in old houses. The reason we have many abandoned houses in rural areas is there is a continuous population flow to urban areas.
What a knowledgeable and interesting correspondent. Hope to hear more reports from her.
That is a problem. Thank you for your information.
Ive lived the in japan for almost 30 years.
the main issue with housing and land here is the outdated and unfair taxation system,the climate (its extremely humid in summer and with these older houses being mainly made of wood and the sub standard materials etc uses in the 60's to 80's) they are just rotten husks.
also the system is geared for the construction industry (housing actually devalues each year-after 30 years the house is worthless)
its entirely the fault of govenment andf vested interested,and a handful of foreigners buying a few choice properties is not to make an ounce of difference
Good.
I am Japanese, but even if the Japanese government offered me a house in the countryside for free, or offered me a salary just for living there, I would absolutely refuse.
I am not a Japanese but perfectly understood what you ment for I have lived in Japan for eight years.
Have a good day!
Yes. This is one of the reasons our towns in Japan are imploding.
Even I would say no to TwoDakota, IdahoMontanaWyomingNebraska and New Mexico.
@@user-co5ri8dp_978 "I don’t know much about the situation in the United States, but I believe the challenges faced by rural Japan are entirely different in nature.
One of the biggest problems in rural Japan is the deeply rooted local customs and traditions unique to each region. Those who don’t conform to these customs often face social exclusion. While many rural areas implement policies to attract young people from other parts of Japan.(Many young couples have tried, but many become discouraged and leave the village.)
the older generations, who are deeply affected by depopulation, often resent the idea of outsiders moving in and disrupting their traditions. For many of the elderly, preserving their village’s cherished customs and habits takes priority over addressing the worsening depopulation.
In other words, in the countryside of Japan, your actions are always monitored and controlled, and you have no freedom. On the other hand, if you are a very sociable person who finds meaning in life by living in unity with a group, the countryside of Japan may be heaven.
Of course, there are exceptions.
If you build your own house and live in the mountains in the Japanese countryside, where there are no neighbors, you will be able to live freely. You can build a very cheap and spacious house.
Japan is a homogeneous society and that makes it very difficult for people of different cultural backgrounds to integrate.
You might wanna look up the definition of heterogeneous. You’re using this in the wrong context and it doesn’t mean what you think it means.
They are a homogeneous society. When I visited as an American, it hit me in the face, given the diversity in the US. Japan is a lovely, safe country with very kind people. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
It’s homogenous, and I quite like it.
It is also why Japan is desirable, peaceful, and safe.
As a Japanese person, I think that excessively high inheritance taxes contribute to the empty house problem in Japan. The inheritance tax is too high, and most Japanese people can't afford to pay it. We have to admit that Japan is in decline.
In this program they refer to abandoned houses getting damaged by earthquakes, but there is also the damage done by typhoons (from Japanese 台風 taifu) which are responsible for many dilapidated structures.
I live in Nagasaki where many houses are perched (often precariously) on hillsides, so those structures which have been abandoned, sometimes due to the occupants being too old to make the long trek up numerous steps, are in varying states of disrepair, so naturally they sometimes provide projectiles that can damage neighbouring dwellings during storms to come.
good information
I think the government should provide other social amenities around the remote areas first. secondly, they should open doors for more foreigners especially students to live in those areas as well.
As a Japanese, it’s sad to admit, but it’s all true😢
Europe too. Rural areas totally empty, yet still going for Wars and Conflicts 😢
I love this is a program. Thanks for your job.
The similar phenomenon has been happening in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Vietnam, China, Thailand, and many other countries.
Yes; In china also many villages are getting empty
I'm sure the reason why there're a lot of abandoned houses in Japan is property tax for a land with (an abandoned) house is cheaper than the one only for a land itself. Even though you demolish your abandoned house to sell the land and nobody buys it, you should pay a bigger amount of property tax. There's no guarantee that anyone buys your land without the abandoned house. That's why the land in a rural area is sold with an abandoned house, and the price is deducted by the demolishing cost.
Keep in mind many of these areas have traditions that they mandate that the person moving in participate in or else they get harassed. Also, some of the people in these areas will make you feel unwelcome even if you are giving back to the community. The reality is, the people in these areas want young Japanese moving in, not foreigners. But young Japanese couldn't care less about life in rural areas because that isn't where the economic activity is.
yes, even renting a house in the city is already a problem for foreigners
Thank you BBC WORLD SERVICE REPORTING.
During Calgary olympics the news showed about a 100 acre farm, in Canada and stated that it cost the same as 1 square meter of land in Tokyo. 1988
Lovely to watch you, thanks a lot!
As the western population shrinks we will see the same thing happening here. Empty houses decaying and whole villages being abandoned
Since those houses are given away Free or at little costs , am wondering why is it that no Japanese property developers or Real estate companies are interested?
Great podcast.
Very interesting informative video.
I like how Shaimma talks in this programme :)
Perhaps an old school could be repurposed to accommodate the elderly so that they can enjoy social interaction rather than dying alone. The surrounding akiyas could house staff to work and care for the elderly. It would be pleasant for everyone.
Great Story Great Idea
This issue might have been a new norm in many countries, including mine. We see people are leaving their own villages in order to settle in crowded cities because of inadequate facilities they need. This is paining to see our villages getting empty slowly and gradually. I wish I could have people in the ereas where we used to enjoy the chirping of birds, beating of goats and sheep, bellowing of cows, and especially the breezing and fresh air, and the fresh and cold spring --water.
From Ikea to akiya. I feel sad for the abandoned houses.
so inspiring😊
Pretty disconcerting...this population crisis many countries around the world are experiencing.
Japanese Abandoned homes/ buildings especially showa/ befowa are aesthetic af though ngl
In any scenario I think too many houses is better than too few.
Great conversation ⭐
Nice show
I think there is something not being mentioned in this story. The Japanese can be extremely xenophobic. It is nearly impossible to get Japanese citizenship, even if you are a first generation descendant from another country. I'm not sure how many people would be willing to buy a home in a distant, earthquake-prone country without the guarantee of citizenship or just reliable residency status.
They should have a 1 year renewable retirement visa.
@@heythave Yes, at the very least. Though, any sensible industrialized country would be going far beyond that...to recruiting citizenship-oriented, younger workers with plans for family. As much flak as Justin Trudeau has taken for doing this in Canada, its going to keep them economically viable. They are nowhere near as bad off as Japan.
Ditto, my friend. Though, your word "sensible" shouldn't be taken for granted. It makes plenty of sense for Italy, Germany, Greece, Japan, the U.S. and many other nations to be actively recruiting citizens or temporary workers to compensate for declining populations, or workforce deficits. Unfortunately, the problem seems universal: racism and xenophobia. The Canadian system is so well designed and it is both rational and reasonable. They give overwhelming preference to any person who can come in and become a fully-participating, fully-employed, tax-paying citizen IMMEDIATELY. If you use that rubric, then there is simply no reason not to let people in.
@@shyamdevadas6099 日本人は人種差別の気持ちは少ない方だと思う。 日本人は和を重んじてて、それを小さいときから周囲に教え込まれます。 それが今の町の清潔さと治安の良さです。 でも節度を重んじない外国人が日本の和を乱す行動は心のなかで軽蔑します。 それは人種差別ではなく批判です。 自分勝手に出来ないからと自分の行動に責任を持つ日本人を嫌うのは違うと思いますね。 I think Japanese people are less inclined to feel racism. Japanese people value harmony, and this is instilled in them from the time they are small. That is the reason for the cleanliness and safety of the town today. But when foreigners who do not respect moderation act in a way that disturbs the harmony of Japan, I despise them in my heart. That is not racism, but criticism. I think it is different to dislike Japanese people who take responsibility for their own actions because they cannot be selfish.
Also, homes are not considered appreciating assets in Japan. They are aging liabilities that’ll cost you time and money to maintain. It’s simply easier to rent in Japan.
Why BBC did not do a documentary about the abandoned homes in Britain?
日本に旅行で来る分には構いませんが住みつくのはやめてもらいたいです。空き家があるからといって軽い気持ちで移住はしてこないでください。最近ではインバウンドの影響で外国人旅行者にすら嫌気を感じてる人が多いです。
This is an amazing report. However, I would like to hear about the downsides of Japan letting foreigners buy lands and houses.
Why are there millions of empty houses?
Answer: they are in the middle of nowhere. Do you want to live in a rural area?
Yep. I live in a rural area.
I saw the commentator in Okachiachi, Tokyo, a few days ago where so many people, most are foreigners, were walking to buy so many things.
Sounds like what Italy is experiencing.
@@MaryAmesMitchell I’m italian and it’s my eleventh years living in Japan. No, it is not like Italy. Here the country side is far, really far away. In Italy you can drive from what you call country side to a town or a little town in 15 minutes and you will find villages in the middle, probably trattoria, wineries, churches, historic ruins, or maybe just nature but you will be near to a town.
Here the country side (I’m not talking of Nara or other known little tourist city) is where you cannot even seen people walking on the street, and I’m not sure what kind of work future we can talk about…
I’m not saying it’s easier in Italy, but at least the abandoned houses are not made in wood, often rotten over the years.
Yeah, you probably have to renovate anyway in Italy, but here most of it need to be demolished (wood floor deteriorate quickly) and without a doubt, a lot of money and time are needed. And always if you are ok to live isolated, maybe with another abandoned house on a side (I visited one just two weeks ago).
@@betti76 Thanks for the explanation. Makes more sense now.
Thanks.
"AN ALARMING ⏰ SITUATION TO BOTH JAPANESE INVENTIONS/ EXISTENCE" ❤🇬🇧❤
Being/Non Being or something different.
The government wants people to go to those places but no improved infrastructure--how do they expect it to happen?
This sounds like an ITV podcast more than a BBC podcast. The casual English and thoughtlessness mirrors it.
You do not see abandoned properties here in California. Not in San Francisco, not in Los Angeles, not in Long Beach. You do not see abandoned homes in New York or London. This is very interesting to me.
They don't knock them down because 'it is intrinsic value' and 'it doesn't lie any longer in agriculture', so its just kept. Empty homes become a fire risk, from electrical or gas connections. Seen that happen in my community. Animal life gets in and destroys it too.
A tiny number of TH-camrs and Instagramers may have bought homes in Japan, but it's nowhere near a significant enough trend to have any economic or social impact - even the 2nd guy they interview here is clearly living in Japan with a Japanese spouse, which isn't the same thing. It's nothing like the Italian €1 property scheme for instance.
The 1 euro house requires you to be a catholic, I think.
Amazing
Inheritance tax is the main killer. In order to inherit the house, one has to pay a hefty amount before they could do so. This is just step 1. Usually these houses are old and dilapidated so it is almost impossible to live in without a proper renovation. With wages so low, how many can really afford to do these? Rent or even buying a new property would make a whole lot more sense.
I know Lucy Hawkins voice more than her face. I have heard her on radio for years...seeing her in the flesh is something else entirely 😊
Thank you for this insight into Japanese life. l live in Madeira. However before I moved to Madeira, l lived for twenty or so years in Algarv, where the situation to that of Japan
Existed, and probably still exists.. I am English from the south of England. We moved to
Algarve mid 1980 when my husband retired. He was a Civil engineer, and we renovated
an old Quinta (farmhouse)..We relocated to Madeira 2004.. My husband died in 2016, and I continue to live in Madeira. .Thank you BBC. ,most interesting. Valerie. (now 83).
Property tax system in Japan need to change so that inherited owner should pay much higher tax when abandoned houses create problems for safety.
There are many rural areas that are about 30 minutes by train from the central cities of Osaka and Kyoto. Nara is famous as a rural residential area in the Kinki region, and many Japanese people live there as a commuter area.
Only foreigners from California understand the danger of living in Akiyas!
I think the quality of the houses is also an important issue that were built during post-war. This kind of the buildings used very cheap quality of the materials that not tolerance of earthquake. Because of rapidly increasing economic during 1950' to 1970', the construction progressed without any long term thinking to respond to the needs of gaining population. After that, there are four times changing a law of construction for against the earthquake to correspond each giant incidence of the earthquake.
So, old houses are simply dangerous which are with old standard of the law, if someone renovated interior, this is not drastic function of anti-earthquake.
With declining and aging population, there really is no point trying to maintain or restore all the abandoned houses especially in the rural areas. Japan should use this as opportunity to consolidate population to smaller number of cities not thousands of small towns scattered everywhere like current