Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

In Japan, the number of abandoned homes - known as Akiyas - is at an all-time high, with 9,000,000 million properties sitting empty on city streets and turning rural communities into ghost towns.

Lucy Hockings is joined by BBC Tokyo correspondent Shaimaa Khalil to ask why these abandoned homes are such a problem? What they say about Japan's existential population crisis? And whether there are any solutions?

00:00 Introduction
01:00 Spotting the abandoned homes
02:20 Dolls replace people in 'dying' village
02:55 Abandoned homes in cities
03:23 Why are there 9,000,000 empty homes in Japan?
04:06 Cultural and economic factors
05:22 'Homes die when the people die'
06:29 Impact on rural communities
07:00 Why not just knock the homes down?
07:47 Empty houses creating earthquake hazards
09:00 Foreigners buying and renovating these homes
10:53 Can tourism solve the empty home crisis?
12:42 Why foreigners are buying Akiyas
14:15 Japanese opinion on foreigners buying up empty houses
15:00 Does the Government have a plan for Akiyas
16:44 Japan's aging population problem
17:35 'Akiyas tell the story of Japan'

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[AlistairAVogan]

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.

[Bunny]

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.

[mazzdacon]

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.

[patrickfitzgerald]

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.

[debbypurcell]

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.

[momo]

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.

[matthewtopping]

I thought they kept saying IKEAs, but they're actually trying to say 空き家 "akiya" 🤣🤣🤣

[Aleavidsforu]

This sounds like an ITV podcast more than a BBC podcast. The casual English and thoughtlessness mirrors it.

[shyamdevadas]

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.

[heritagehomesJapan]

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.

[greghelton]

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.

[winifredclarke]

I went after this story 2 years ago.
The facts that I found
- Japanese language unbelievably difficult
- Japanese people living in a closed society and even if you are ie mum Japanese dad foreigner, that kid's always will be outsiders, no matter they are speaking the language and knowing all the social interactions, therefore foreigners will be always outsiders
- we in the west looking Japan as high technologically developed country, however, the bureaucracy so obvious, ie so backwarded, they still using fax machine and hand written cards without any digitalisation....
- getting a job in Japan for a foreigner is difficult, because no-one speaks English
- the earthquakes are very much a valid reason how to build homes
- the humidity is 80-95%, therefore insulation is a nightmare, as straight away everything gets covered with black damp
And finally
If you are from a western society ie USA, where is money for everything, you will be surprised for the Japanese values. They not chasing growth and numbers. The big or super sized cities are stopped growing, as they are figure out sustainability is a key, and they are unable to manage it anymore.


Conclusion
This report are misleading, because showing the romantic side of the negatives, instead would showing the reality.

[村上りんね]

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.

[MaryAmesMitchell]

Sounds like what Italy is experiencing.

[aldente]

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.

[CorncropTv]

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.

[paulmkimani]

Strange, people work so hard to own property, but at the end of it, it is not worth much!

[willieteb]

Japan is a homogeneous society and that makes it very difficult for people of different cultural backgrounds to integrate.

[nomis]

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

[thomHD]

A tiny number of YouTubers 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.