HeyJaredAkiya Heaven's Substack
Japanese real estate for foreign buyers. Licensed consultants based in Tokyo.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 30, 2026
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- Jul 8, 2026
Latest issues
An Akiya in Hokkaido Is Not the Same Property as an Akiya in Okinawa (opens the original)
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“Akiya” is a useful word, but sometimes it is too useful.It can make Japan’s vacant housing stock sound like a single category of property. In reality, an akiya outside Tokyo, a machiya in Kyoto, a farmhouse in Tohoku and a concrete house in Okinawa may have almost nothing in common beyond the fact that nobody currently lives there.Japan has millions of vacant homes, but what those homes look like, why they became vacant and what it takes to restore them varies enormously by region.For buyers, t
Rural Japan Is Peaceful. Owning an Old House There Is Not Always Easy. (opens the original)
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There is a familiar version of the akiya dream: an inexpensive traditional house, rice fields outside the window, mountains in the distance and none of the noise or expense of Tokyo.Some of that picture is absolutely real.But when we speak with people considering an akiya, we think it is important to talk about the other side too. Rural property ownership is not simply urban life with more space and better scenery. Your routines change, and the house itself often demands considerably more attent
There Is No “Best” Place in Japan to Buy an Akiya (opens the original)
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We are regularly asked which part of Japan is best for buying an akiya.It sounds like a simple question, but it usually starts at the wrong level. A prefecture can contain ski resorts, commuter towns, farming villages, declining mountain communities and coastal tourist areas. Two properties 30 kilometres apart can have completely different prospects.Still, regional characteristics matter. Climate, transport, tourism, property supply and local government support can quickly narrow the search. Our
Buying an Akiya from Overseas: What Actually Matters When You Are Thousands of Kilometres Away (opens the original)
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Buying property in Japan while living overseas sounds complicated because, frankly, it can be.Our client Fatima lives in Dubai and works in events and branding. Her interest in Japan had developed over years of travelling here and appreciating the country’s combination of tradition and modernity. Eventually, that interest became more concrete: she wanted to own a property in Japan.She ultimately purchased an akiya in Saitama, with plans to renovate it into a vacation home for herself and her fam
An Akiya Is Not a Holiday Rental Until the Numbers and Rules Work (opens the original)
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One of the more common ideas we hear from akiya buyers is straightforward: buy an inexpensive house in rural Japan, renovate it, put it online, and generate rental income.The idea can work. But the property has to be chosen with the rental business in mind from the beginning.A ¥10 million akiya is not automatically a ¥10 million investment opportunity. Location, renovation costs, licensing, access, management, and guest demand matter far more than the headline purchase price.<a class="image-link
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