Not Every Cheap House in Japan Is an Abandoned Akiya

Stories about free houses in Japan usually show wrecks. These 18 homes start at €18,400 and you could move into them.

RealHunt Research · 2026-09-23

You have probably seen the headlines: Japan has millions of empty houses, and some towns give them away. It is true. It is also why so many people are disappointed when they look closer. Most of the free and near-free houses need a new roof, new plumbing and months of work, and some are not worth saving.

So we set a different bar. The 18 Japanese homes on RealHunt all look like somewhere you could live now. Prices start at €18,400 and the middle of the list is €51,980.

Hillside kominka with sea views over the Kyoto coast
€54,280 · Hillside kominka with sea views over the Kyoto coastMaizuru, Kyoto, Japan

What the money buys

At the bottom of the range you get older wooden houses in the countryside: a 100-year-old farmhouse with its own farmland, or a 1977 single-storey house with a sakura garden in Usuki, Oita, about 500 metres from the sea. Around €40,000 to €60,000 the houses are often renovated, with new kitchens and bathrooms, and several have sea views on the Seto Inland Sea or the Sea of Japan coast.

Japanese home with a sakura garden
€19,320 · Japanese home with a sakura gardenUsuki, Oita, Japan
Freshly renovated five-bedroom house with an ocean view
€56,120 · Freshly renovated five-bedroom house with an ocean viewKashiwazaki, Niigata, Japan
Renovated island house with one of Japan's best sea views
€57,040 · Renovated island house with one of Japan's best sea viewsKojima, Okayama, Japan

At the top, around €91,000, there is a Japanese-style single-storey house with an engawa (the wooden veranda) and a garden in Yugawara, a coastal hot spring town about 90 minutes from Tokyo.

Can a foreigner buy?

Yes. Japan lets foreigners own houses and land outright, with no visa or residency needed to buy. Buying costs add up to roughly 8% on top of the price: acquisition tax, registration, stamp duty and the agent's commission, which is capped by law. Owning a house does not give you a visa, so if you want to live there full time that is a separate question.

What to check

Age matters in Japan in a way it does not in Europe. Houses built before June 1981 were built to older earthquake rules. Many are fine and some have been reinforced, but ask. Ask too about the septic system, whether the land is freehold or leased, and what the fixed asset tax is each year (usually low for older rural houses).

Distance is the other thing. A house in a quiet coastal town can be two or three hours from a big city by train. That is the point for some buyers and a problem for others.

Browse them

Japanese homes near the sea · Japan under €50,000 · all homes in Japan

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