Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Japan

Japan is Giving Away Free Houses (fastcompany.com) 224

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
There are some 8 million abandoned homes -- or akiya -- in Japanese suburbia, according to The Japan Times . And if you've got a visa allowing you to live in Japan, some of them can be yours for free or very low prices, and the government may give you a subsidy to renovate one. From a report: There are even databases devoted to helping people find these homes, known as "akiya banks." What's driving the government to give away homes? In part, it has to do with Japan's aging population: According to the World Bank, the country's population decreased by -0.2% in 2017 alone, while China and the U.S. slowly grew 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. There are simply fewer people in Japan than there once were -- roughly 1.3 million fewer people than in 2010 by one count [paywall].
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Japan is Giving Away Free Houses More

Japan is Giving Away Free Houses

Comments Filter:

  • The Jeffersons: Japanese style. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    So how do the Japanese feel about a bunch of foreigners as next door neighbors.

    • They aren't foreigners, they were there before the Japaneese.

      Although the catbus one is a hazard in the traffic.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by samdu ( 114873 )

      Here's a good piece from the Japan Times:

      https://www.japantimes.co.jp/o... [japantimes.co.jp]

  • Giving away free houses? (Score:5, Funny)

    by fredrated ( 639554 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @12:30AM (#57777932) Journal

    You mean they are not charging for the free houses? How unusual.

  • Detroit's done the same thing before. (Score:3)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @12:38AM (#57777964)
    the question is are there jobs?

    • Or, another question: can I retire there? That will help with the aging population, right?

      • Asian countries are difficult to retire to, but yes you can.
        However as it is Japan, you won't come around learning to speak it. (not necessarily write it)

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          Depends on the country. There are entire foreign enclaves in places like Thailand. They typically specialize to serve a certain nationality, basically sucking up Western pensioner's pensions to guarantee a fairly high quality of life due to country itself being much poorer than country that pensioner comes from.

          Rich East Asian countries like Japan don't really fit that bill though. These countries have enough problems with their own elderly as it is.

          • basically sucking up Western pensioner's pensions to guarantee a fairly high quality of life due to country itself being much poorer than country that pensioner comes from.

            So in other words, commerce. Both sides benefit from the exchange.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

              Depends on what you view as "other side". Pension payer does not benefit for example, which is why if the pension system accounts for the fact that money will be spend within the economy that is being taxed to pay the said pension, this is a harmful exchange to said economy.

    • the question is are there jobs?

      There are for programmers, even if you don't speak Japanese, but you need to pass an interview, and it's difficult to do so if you don't understand the culture. (Maybe you will get lucky and just mesh naturally with the culture, but I sure didn't).

  • Well, you gotta bring furniture but the house is free!

    It's free real estate.

  • Don't get too excited. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @01:11AM (#57778098)

    As fun as it may be to visit, Japanese culture is still "uncomfortable" with foreigners moving to Japan. Japanese youth love American culture but it's more like how people in the US like Anime: it's a sliver of their culture and not really representative of anything. Depending on how they process applications, they may be trying to get expatriated Japanese to return to Japan. Essentially, the Japan majority is like those in the US who want to build a giant border wall but it's all just below the surface like the rampant racism in parts of the US.

    • Re:Don't get too excited. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Gavagai80 ( 1275204 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @01:29AM (#57778168) Homepage

      Essentially, the Japan majority is like those in the US who want to build a giant border wall

      Japan has a giant border moat. Their border wall will be for coping with sea level rise.

      • Japan has a giant border moat. Their border wall will be for coping with sea level rise.

        Japan's plan is to turn their entire island into a gigantic mecha that can transform from a boat into a robot that explores the stars. Sea level rise is no problem.

        That, or they're just totally fucked.

    • Re:Don't get too excited. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @05:38AM (#57778668)

      Japanese culture is still "uncomfortable" with foreigners moving to Japan

      No they aren't. As bad as it sounds they are uncomfortable with *specific* foreigners moving to Japan. Americans and Europeans generally don't need to worry too much. Actually unless you're Korean, Chinese, you have a year around tan or if you feel a compulsion to lay down a rug and smash your head against the ground 5 times a day while facing northwest then you'll be welcomed in general.

      But your culture thing is true in general of all countries. We typically like absorbing the good and not the bad. In many cases we spend so much time focusing on the good that we don't even understand the bad until we're forced to (e.g. move there).

    • Re:Don't get too excited. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @07:37AM (#57778912) Homepage Journal

      As someone who did move to Japan for a while I can tell you that it's not quite that simple. It depends where you are for a start, but more generally it tends to be hard at first because the language is hard and the culture is very different and many people are a bit frightened of you. Not frightened of violence of crime or anything like that, but worried that they won't be able to understand you or help you and end up being embarrassed.

      After a while you reach a point where that doesn't happen any more. I don't know how it works exactly, but at some point you start giving off subconscious signals that you fit in. I remember quite distinctly when I first noticed it. An old woman at the bus stop asked me to open a bottle for her, and then to keep an eye out her for bus because she couldn't see well in the twilight. It might have been my accent, or rather lack of it... More than once people have asked if I am Japanese, but the plight of white Japanese people is another story.

      • Re:Don't get too excited. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Koreantoast ( 527520 ) on Monday December 10, 2018 @11:23AM (#57779890)

        As someone who did move to Japan for a while I can tell you that it's not quite that simple. It depends where you are for a start, but more generally it tends to be hard at first because the language is hard and the culture is very different and many people are a bit frightened of you. Not frightened of violence of crime or anything like that, but worried that they won't be able to understand you or help you and end up being embarrassed.

        Completely agree. This is true for a lot of countries, but the Japanese especially have a rigid, very particular way of doing things, and if you don't understand how that flow works, you quickly stand out as that loose bolt that bounces around inside an otherwise fine tuned, well oiled machine. They give you grace because you're a foreigner, but that still doesn't mean they don't get annoyed by you messing up their neatly defined system.

        • They give you grace because you're a foreigner, but that still doesn't mean they don't get annoyed by you messing up their neatly defined system.

          Like most places, Japan is very welcoming of foreign visitors. They understand that your culture is different and that you are not intentionally being an ass. But if you plan on staying then you had better learn to adjust your behavior. Their tolerance only lasts so long and they do not want you forcing your culture into their daily life. They same can be said for any culture.

  • Sounds like a good place to retire!

    • Sounds like a good place to retire!

      Pff! Good luck with that, gaijin. [slashdot.org]

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Requirement is that you are a couple with kids under 20 (with at least 1 partner under 50 if I recall correctly), or that you are under 40 if you are single.

      You also need to move there full time.

  • Earthquake proofing is questionable (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 10, 2018 @02:03AM (#57778252)

    Japan is hit by earthquakes all the time. This has resulted on some very strict building codes and they are getting more and more strict. At the same time companies invent new ways of protecting the buildings from damage.

    In 1995, Kobe was hit by a magnitude 7.2 quake. That went very bad, but it was a learning experience. It revealed a lot of flaws, which could be corrected. It turned out that the typhoon protection in the roofs of a lot of buildings made them deathtraps in case of major earthquakes and the design is now banned in new buildings.

    In 2011 a magnitude 9.0 hit and lasted for an amazing 5 minutes. We have all seen the videos of cities being flooded by a tsunami. However most people missed the big news regarding the buildings. They were still standing. It was the most powerful quake ever measured in Japan and one of the most powerful ever recorded, yet the buildings survived. The reason is they replaced the buildings with modern ones, which fulfills the modern building codes. The Kobe quake era buildings would not have had a chance to survive.

    Because of this, buildings in Japan lose value fast. People want new buildings with new safety. You can encounter houses with negative value meaning the plot would be worth more without houses. The thinking is that the old houses have to be torn down, meaning it's just an extra expense.

    Now there are abandoned houses being offered for free. I think we can assume those houses aren't state of the art. In fact odds are they are pre 1995. Not only is that a safety issue, they might be uninsulated because traditionally Japan added temporal insulation during the winter because insulation would make houses too hot in the summer. On top of that the houses are in locations with de-population issues. If they were in good locations, the houses would be sold as building plots. This means poor job options in the areas of the free houses.

    It's not a good offer. I don't think anybody will accept such houses, even for free. However if it's possible to get fast internet access, like optic fiber, then just maybe somebody will use this to start internet based businesses. It could create some upstarts, which can't afford to get enough storage space in the cities.

    If the Japanese government would really do something to keep people in rural areas, they should look to the railroads. Right now they let people pay for railroads locally and if there aren't enough people, they will reduce the number of trains, close the line and use buses and then close the bus lines. So far every time a railroad dies, the community dies and it's a big topic in Japan because it makes it harder to keep people in farming communities, which in turn means less production of food for the cities. They know this and debate funding, but nothing happens. There are other issues like no daycare, meaning it's a problematic area if you want to have children. It looks like the government makes a move with free houses because it's free for them too (more or less), but as long as they aren't touching the reason why the houses have been abandoned and become unsellable, it will have a hard time being a success.

    • Because of this, buildings in Japan lose value fast.

      It's... just a wee bit more complicated than that. It's a cultural thing that goes back quite a ways. Japan values land more than buildings on that land.

  • But tearing down homes is costly, and a decades-old tax break that promotes construction by setting property tax on vacant lots at six times the level of those with buildings discourages demolition.

    Well maybe, just maybe they could adjust the tax to encourage people to at least tear them down.

  • I saw this movie. I move in, everything's cool, but then there's this little boy meowing at me and a creepy girl spider-walking down the stairs. Thanks but no thanks!

  • These houses are all right next to Fukushima.

    At least you get a waterfront view!

  • I'm kinda serious...

    Japan needs young people and families. Millions of young people and families need safe places to live and raise their children. There may be some synergy there.

  • The only downside that I see is that in order to get a free house you have to be Yoko's housemate. That girl is CRAAAZY.
  • There are small towns desperate to spread cost of upkeep where infrastructure deteriorated. Water pipes old need replacement. These towns are very rural and have limited income capacity. There are some factory jobs or farming jobs. Need at least an intermediate Japanese skill.

Slashdot Top Deals

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. -- Thomas Jefferson

Close