The Australian couple plan to restore the property in the coming years as they transition into retirement. They say that integrating into the local community is a crucial part of being a homeowner in ...

He lives in the two-story house — that was built in the '60s — with his Japanese partner. He hopes that people won't buy property in Japan solely because it's cheap or trendy. Matt Guy visited Japan ...

Japan has millions of abandoned homes known as akiya. Once lived in by families for generations, many now sit empty in rural towns, suburbs and even major cities. Some sell for extremely low prices.

When Jaya Thursfield found a house he wanted to buy in Japan a few years ago, friends and family told him to forget it. The place wasn’t worth the trouble, they said. After all, it stood in a forest ...

There are millions of empty houses in the Japanese countryside. These houses, called akiya, are often sold for low prices, attracting buzz from foreign buyers. Buyers should be aware of potential ...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erik Buhrow, who bought a house in Japan's Niigata Prefecture through AkiyaMart, a site that helps foreigners buy abandoned Japanese homes known ...

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Coline Aguirre bought a traditional house in the Japanese countryside when she was 24. She left France and moved to Japan alone to restore the property and start her own real-estate consultancy. "It's ...

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The number of vacant houses in Japan has surged to a record high of nine million – more than enough for each person in New York City – as the east Asian country continues to struggle with its ...