The Australian couple plan to restore the property in the coming years as they transition into retirement. They say that integrating into the local community is a crucial part of being a homeowner in ...

He lives in the two-story house — that was built in the '60s — with his Japanese partner. He hopes that people won't buy property in Japan solely because it's cheap or trendy. Matt Guy visited Japan ...

Tokyo Portfolio has been recognized as the top foreigner-friendly real estate agency in Tokyo by Japan Insider, a leading ...

Japan has millions of abandoned homes known as akiya. Once lived in by families for generations, many now sit empty in rural towns, suburbs and even major cities. Some sell for extremely low prices.

There are millions of empty houses in the Japanese countryside. These houses, called akiya, are often sold for low prices, attracting buzz from foreign buyers. Buyers should be aware of potential ...

When Jaya Thursfield found a house he wanted to buy in Japan a few years ago, friends and family told him to forget it. The place wasn’t worth the trouble, they said. After all, it stood in a forest ...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erik Buhrow, who bought a house in Japan's Niigata Prefecture through AkiyaMart, a site that helps foreigners buy abandoned Japanese homes known ...

Anton Wormann, 32, has always had a passion for DIY projects and creating beautiful spaces. So, after he discovered that his neighbor's property had been abandoned, he decided to purchase it and bring ...

Coline Aguirre bought a traditional house in the Japanese countryside when she was 24. She left France and moved to Japan alone to restore the property and start her own real-estate consultancy. "It's ...

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in ...

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. Follow Matthew Loh Every time Matthew publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!

Coline Aguirre first began to imagine her future during a high school exchange program in Japan a decade ago. Aguirre, who was born in Paris but moved around a lot as a child, spent a year studying in ...