Originally published Nov. 2025. Updated April 2026.
The house we just bought in rural Japan is… tiny. It’s just 82 square meters. And yet, buying it was anything but simple.
From first contacting the owner in November 2024 to finally getting the keys in October 2025, it took us a full year to buy this akiya in rural Japan.
But the delay wasn’t about negotiating the price.
The real challenge was everything behind the scenes—inheritance transfer, unclear title, locating heirs, old mortgage records that still had to be cleared on paper, and local land rules that affected what we could and couldn’t buy.
And unlike a typical purchase, this wasn’t a listed property.
We found this house through a friend of a friend—completely off-market. That meant we had access to a place that might never have been listed publicly. But it also meant we were stepping into all the unresolved paperwork and uncertainty that usually gets sorted out before a house ever appears online.
So how long does it actually take to buy an akiya in Japan?
In some cases, it can take just a few weeks. In others, it can stretch well beyond a year. In our case, buying an off-market akiya took 12 months—largely due to inheritance issues, title clearance, and land restrictions.
This is what that process actually looked like.
If you’re new to akiya in Japan, you might want to start here→ Everything You Need to Know About Akiya Houses in Japan
- It Started With a Simple Introduction
- The First Delay: The House Wasn’t Legally Hers to Sell
- The Second Delay: Finding the Heirs (and the Hidden Mortgages)
- The Third Delay: The Land We Thought We Were Buying
- The Final Delay: Almost There… But Not Quite
- One Year Later
- So, Why Did It Take a Year?
- What It Cost (Beyond the Price)
- Our 1-Year Akiya Timeline
- So, Is This Process Worth It?
It Started With a Simple Introduction
Our search for an akiya had been going on for three years when, in November 2024, we were introduced to this house through a local connection.
The seller was the daughter of the original owners. We connected over LINE, spoke on the phone, and eventually met at the house itself. She walked us through its history, and when I asked—tentatively—if she might consider selling, she said yes.
We agreed on a price under ¥500,000.
At that point, it felt surprisingly simple. (It wasn’t.)
The First Delay: The House Wasn’t Legally Hers to Sell
In December, we went to the city hall together to pull the property records.
That’s when we discovered the first major issue: the title was still in the names of her deceased parents.
In Japan, if a property owner passes away without formally transferring ownership, the house becomes a shared asset among all legal heirs. That meant this one house technically belonged to multiple relatives—some of whom may not have even been in contact with each other.
Before anything could be sold, the title had to be consolidated under the seller’s name through a process called inheritance transfer (sōzoku).
Which meant one thing:
Every single heir had to be found—and agree.
Read about our akiya experience: What You Need to Know About Akiya Abandoned Homes in Japan
The Second Delay: Finding the Heirs (and the Hidden Mortgages)
We hired a judicial scrivener (司法書士、Shihō Shoshi) in February, 2025.
Their job was to act as a kind of legal detective—tracking down every person with a potential claim to the property and gathering their official seals (inkan) to approve the transfer.
This process stretched from February into early April.
And during that investigation, another issue surfaced.
Old mortgages.
Even though the loans had likely been paid off years ago, they still existed, unresolved, on paper. Before the title could be cleared, those records had to be formally resolved.
By April 9, 2025, after weeks of searching and coordination, the scrivener successfully located all heirs, gathered their approvals, and consolidated the title under the seller.
The mortgages had already been paid off—they just needed to be formally cleared from the records.
We were finally ready to move forward.
Or so we thought.
The Third Delay: The Land We Thought We Were Buying
In early July, we hired a real estate agent to formalize the sale.
That’s when the next issue appeared.
Part of the property included agricultural land—and in Japan, purchasing that land as a non-permanent resident is not straightforward. The rules vary by municipality, and approval often requires meeting strict conditions.
So the agent began contacting the local Agricultural Committee.
And then… we waited.
For about a month, there was no clear answer.
Eventually, the response came back: we were not allowed to purchase the agricultural land.
👉 Read more about the agricultural purchase regulations for foreigners.
This setback forced Jesse and me to pause and think.
At that point, we had to make a decision: Walk away, or move forward with less than we had planned.
In August 2025, we chose to continue—buying only the house and its non-agricultural plot.
🔑 A Small Lesson in How Things Work Here
The roadblock with the Agricultural Committee taught us an important lesson of rural life: Local support is the real currency.
While our agent—who wasn’t local—spent six weeks trying to get a clear answer from the Agricultural Committee, nothing really moved.
Months later, after we had settled our house payment, I casually mentioned the situation to the person who had originally introduced us to the house.
He made one phone call.
The next day, I was sitting in the town hall, speaking directly with committee members, passing out business cards, looking at maps, and finally getting clear answers.
They even offered on-the-spot advice on designating new plots and converting some agricultural land to mixed-use.
It was a quiet reminder that in rural Japan, local relationships often matter more than formal processes.
This is something we’ve come to understand more deeply, living in the countryside—how much daily life depends on people, not systems → Is Inaka Life For You? Here Are 7 Truths To Consider Before Making The Big Leap
The takeaway is, have a local vouch for you (if you can). The bureaucratic doors that remain locked to even the most qualified outsider can be unlocked instantly by a single, trusted community introduction.
The Final Delay: Almost There… But Not Quite
By September, everything seemed close to completion.
And then one last issue surfaced.
A second mortgage.
It had already been paid off—but just like the first, it hadn’t been properly cleared from the official records.
Which meant more paperwork, more verification, and another month of waiting while the scrivener worked to retrieve documentation from the lender.
One Year Later
In October 2025, after a full year of legal work, delays, and back-and-forth, the final documents were cleared.
We signed the paperwork.
And just like that, we became the official owners of a house in Japan.
So, Why Did It Take a Year?
It wasn’t one big problem — it was layers of unresolved ones:
- The title wasn’t in the seller’s name
- Heirs had to be identified and contacted
- Old mortgages still existed on paper
- Land restrictions limited what we could buy
- And because it was off-market, none of this had been sorted out in advance
Each step depended on the one before it, and none of them moved quickly.
What It Cost (Beyond the Price)
The house itself was ¥500,000.
But by the time we added legal fees, registration costs, agent fees, and the work needed to clear the title, the total came to about ¥1,300,000.
More than double the purchase price. And that’s before even getting into renovation costs, disposal fees, and the day-to-day realities of fixing up an older home.
If you’re planning a project like this, this guide may help→ A Guide to Garbage Disposal When Renovating an Akiya House in Japan
Our 1-Year Akiya Timeline
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2024 | Initial Discovery | House found via a friend-of-a-friend connection; our search ended after three years. Connected with the seller (owner’s daughter). |
| Nov/Dec 2024 | City Hall Visit | We pulled property records and discovered the major issue: the title was still in the deceased parents’ names. |
| Dec 2024 | Contact & Negotiation | We agreed on a price under 500,000 JPY. |
| Dec 2024 | Title Issue Identified | The title issue required Inheritance Transfer (Sōzoku) to consolidate the property claim before sale. |
| Feb 1, 2025 | Judicial Scrivener Hired | We hired a specialist to find all heirs and manage complex property registration. |
| Feb – Apr 2025 | Scrivener’s Investigation | The scrivener hunted down descendants and discovered the existence of unsettled mortgages. |
| Apr 9, 2025 | Inheritance Cleared | The scrivener found all heirs, and they signed paperwork, consolidating the title under the seller. |
| Early July 2025 | Real Estate Agent Hired | We brought on an agent to manage the formal sales process. |
| July 2025 | Agricultural Committee Inquiry | The agent began checks regarding the sale of surrounding agricultural land to us. |
| End of July 2025 | Bureaucratic Roadblock | The Agricultural Committee denied us the right to purchase agricultural land due to lack of full, permanent residency. |
| Aug 2025 | Decision Point | We decided to proceed with buying just the house and its non-agricultural plot. |
| Sept 2025 | Second Mortgage Scare | The scrivener discovered a second, previously settled mortgage that still required formal registration removal. |
| Sept – Oct 2025 | Final Due Diligence | The scrivener retrieved final documentation from the loan company to clear the remaining debt record. |
| October 2025 | Closing & Signed Paperwork | We cleared and finalized the title, signing the transaction after a full year. |
So, Is This Process Worth It?
For us, yes. But it’s a very specific path.
Buying off-market gave us access to a house we likely never would have found otherwise. But it also meant stepping into uncertainty—waiting without clear timelines, navigating paperwork with no clear roadmap, and taking on problems that hadn’t been resolved yet.
In a way, that’s the trade.
This path can open doors to homes that never appear online. But it also asks more of you: patience, local relationships, flexibility, access to cash, and a willingness to sit with bureaucracy that can take months to untangle.
For some, that’s part of the appeal.
For others, it may feel like more than they want to take on—and that’s completely okay.
If you’re looking for something more straightforward, there are other ways to approach buying an akiya. Working with agent-supported platforms or established listings means many of these challenges—title issues, inheritance, land checks—have already been resolved before the property ever reaches you.
If you’re curious what that looks like, platforms like AkiyaMart curate listings across Japan and provide tools like zoning maps, hazard overlays, and English-language support—making it easier to search, compare, and move forward with more clarity from the start.
After reading all the steps that you both went through helped better understand why so many houses are abandoned. I am really curious if the deep cleaning services allowed you to video the process. Also if you thinking of making the renovation of the bathroom to more western standards (shower, toilet, sink all in your room)?
What is the total land size? Thanks for the videos! We are a retired couple following your channel from Florida. Would love to have a little house in Japan, but unfortunately at this moment there aren’t visas that would work for us.
Hi Maria, thank you for your questions! I am glad to hear the article helped explain some of the complicated reasons for the abandoned houses situation in Japan. Indeed, there is a lot to do if you plan on purchasing an akiya, and the few reasons I outline is just a glimpse into some of the challenges one can encounter. As for your questions:
-We haven’t hired a cleaning service yet so have had no opportunity to film.
-We would like to adhere to Japanese bathroom standards (separate toilet and bathroom) for our house. We like the traditional system, though will include some modern amenities to make it as comfortable as possible!
-The total land size is roughly 2500 square meters.
So exciting! Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing your journey.
Looking forward to future episodes.
But take care and don’t get any injuries in the process of cleaning up etc.
Stay safe!
Hi Victoria, and thank you for your kind words! We will be sure to take care of ourselves while we embark on this work — we certainly don’t want to delay in the work!
You’re doing a great service to the foreigners whose eyes bug out and imaginations run wild when they read about the “low prices” for akiya. As a long time (permanent) resident of Japan who owns property here, I have often tried to explain how much these “cheap” houses end up costing, how difficult the purchase will likely be, and what you’ll actually be buying once all is said and done. The truth is that there is always a very good reason (or a multitude of them!) for why these properties are empty and priced as they are.
From now on, I’m just going to link your blog instead of trying to list up all the things that foreigners don’t understand about buying property—and properties themselves—in Japan!
Hi Aaron, thank you so much for the comment! You’re absolutely right—it’s so easy to get swept up in those ‘dream prices’ and miss the reality of the fine print. Since you’ve been through the process yourself, you know that the sticker price is often just the beginning. I’m honoured that you’ll be sharing the blog; hopefully, I can keep pulling back the curtain on the realities of ownership while equipping people with the practical tools they actually need. Thanks for the support and for sharing your perspective!
I am so excited about your new home project!! How far do you have to travel between the house where you currently live and the new one? I’m impressed with how hard you both work, and I wish you could take your newly insulated current house with you! The road that your new place is on seems quiet, so that will be nice. Is there a stream nearby? Can’t wait to see the workshop. And the new plans.
I just spent almost a month in Japan, traveling around some of the southern islands and towns. Mine was a small group who was there to study with a fabulous textile artist who lives in Fujino.
Thanks for bringing us along on your journey! Best New Year’s Wishes!!
Thank you Robin for your comment! The house is not that far, so we will be able to go back and forth easily as we work on renovations. We will still use our rental, so our insulation work will not be in vain! We have a stream nearby, which will be very nice during the summer months. Sounds like you had a lovely month-long trip through Japan! Japan has so many wonderful textiles rich with a long of history and tradition, so I can imagine there was a lot to learn from your Fujino artist!
I lived in Eastern Kochi for the last couple of years, so finding your channel was really fun. I thought, “wow, this looks so familiar and nostalgic!” then saw your Umaji video! Amazing.
Eastern Kochi is such a beautiful corner of the world! Glad the videos could bring back a bit of that nostalgia for you. 😆
I felt inspired by your story. So nice to see some young folks taking a path less travelled. It’s one that would have appealed to me in my younger days.
If you had the patience to see it through over a year-long process then you will surely make it work!
Look forward to checking out some of the other videos.
Best Wishes from McCarthy, Alaska
Greg
Thank you so much, Greg! That really means a lot to hear. The process definitely tested our patience at times 😅 Wishing you all the best up in Alaska too — McCarthy looks absolutely incredible. Thanks for following along!
Hi, hope is evething is fine.
Im Jason and a family of 5 just wondering if you can share you contact agency or real estate company. As we are considiring buying a home in Japan.
Thanks again and have a wonderful day
Hi Jason, It sounds like you and your family have some exciting plans ahead! I don’t have a Japanese real estate company to suggest, but if you happen to be searching from abroad, you might want to check out the bilingual agencies who specialize in helping overseas buyers. I’ve done some work with AkiyaMart, and those guys are pretty awesome (Joey and Take) and they have English-speaking real estate agents who can assist remotely, which can make the process a lot easier if you’re not currently in Japan. They offer a consultation fee where you can book two sessions for a flat fee, which might be a good way to get your questions answered before committing to anything, and get a feel for their agents (I think they have 4 agents right now). Juuuuust in case, if you want also search through their English listings, there is a subscription plan with a 30% off option if you use this link: https://www.akiya-mart.com/?via=maigomika — no pressure to use at all, just mentioning it in case.
Best of luck with your search!
I’ve been following the channel since a while and even commenting it your guide for buying a house is very straighforward.
Some stuff is usual as we could have in any country but the mortgages and the heirs is totally different! Having someone to talk to have the permits on place is really unique.
I plan to buy a house to retire in a rural area in Japan (near a trains station)… I have it in mind since a long ago. I hope start the plan soon I have 20 years to start this 🙂
Thanks for sharing this all
Thank you for following along for so long, and for the kind words! I agree—some parts of the buying process are familiar, but things like inheritance issues, abandoned properties, and the local paperwork can be quite different from what many people are used to.