Sangenjaya is a small but bustling neighborhood in Tokyo, about three stops from the famous Shibuya crossing. Imagine being not far from Westminster in London or Times Square in Manhattan, New York – but without the huge cost.
Japan’s vacant houses, known as akiyas, are scattered across the country, even in desirable areas like Sangenjaya. Experts say there are more than nine million of them nationwide, and they have caused a stir on social media.
Anton Wormann is a model turned renovator who went viral on TikTok for documenting his Akiya project and raising awareness of these affordable homes.
“In this case, it was three siblings whose parents lived here and they passed away,” Wormann said. “They had filled the house with stuff, and just getting rid of stuff costs a lot of money and also a lot of time, so the houses are just abandoned in this way.”
Wormann paid about $100,000 for the property. “I’m essentially paying for the land. It’s 90 years old. Houses in Japan depreciate, meaning after 30 years they’re basically worth nothing,” he said.
Japan’s asset bubble burst in the early 1990s, leading to decades of economic stagnation that kept real estate prices low. Houses became like cars: the longer you own one, the less it’s worth.
When elderly people die and their homes are no longer worth much, families may not want to deal with the tax implications and costs of eviction, sale or demolition and so decide to simply abandon the homes.
Once you leave the big cities, the problems of Japan’s ageing population and low birth rates become even more apparent. Another reason rural areas become ghost towns is that young people tend not to want to live there. That’s one reason why akiyas have become so popular – there are so many that some villages and towns give them away for free.
Sam King is originally from the UK and has lived in Japan for seven years. King and his wife Nanami, who was born and raised in Tokyo, bought an Akiya in a rural mountainous area where they live with their five-month-old son.
The couple paid around $100,000 for their property, but admitted it would have been “a lot easier and less complicated” to buy a newly built home. “It’s such a beautiful house and it’s nice to preserve it and extend its life,” King said.
King’s advice for anyone considering buying an akiya is to have someone check out the condition of the property. “Some of these houses sound really cheap, but when you move in you find out there are problems with the structure or the water system changes completely, like here,” he said.
“Be prepared that not everything is as it seems on the Instagram post. Even if they look nice, you have to look a little beneath the surface.”
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